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Issue #205 – Mentor News
by Liya Swift
Prior to landing the position of sous chef at Negril Village, an upscale Caribbean American restaurant in Atlanta, GA, Chef Yusef Walker rose through the ranks of the brigade system, cooking in restaurants throughout New York. Besides Negril and the work he does as a CASA mentor, he’s currently in the process of creating and testing the menu for the up-and-coming Miss Icey’s. Named in honor of his grandmother, the restaurant will feature contemporary Caribbean leaning urban cuisine occurring within a street vibe aesthetic.
We recently caught up with the busy chef to learn more about what he does, garner a few insights on cooking at the professional level, and find out which qualities he looks for in the CASA students he trains.
RRFC: What do you see as one of the main shortcomings with conventional culinary school?
I’m not going to say any names, but I’ve had a lot of people come out of certain culinary institutions where they learned braising through a recipe. The recipe says that they’re going to do ratatouille which is a great dish. Then they [think] braising is synonymous with ratatouille.
And if I tell them ‘I want you to braise this cauliflower and turkey neck,” …I’ve literally had someone tell me, “You can’t braise a turkey neck.”…It kind of boxes in their brain into thinking there’s just one way to do something instead of having it technique and application based.
Then you get people afraid to break out of these confinements of what a dish should be because they haven’t thought outside the box…if I tell you “I want a matchstick cut on these apples” because I want them to look a certain way and [to have the eater] feel the texture of the ingredient in the mouth because it makes the dish better…If you can’t break out of the constraints of systematic knife cuts, then you really can’t grow, because you’re not thinking of the plate and the food and the experience inside the place where you’re cooking. You’re mostly just going by the book and turning into a cookie-cutter chef.
RRFC: What does your role as a sous chef involve day-to-day?
In addition to knowing every station on the line, because when you’re interviewing the new hires or when you’re training them, you have to be able to tell them what’s right from wrong and you’ve got to know that station like the back of your hand. You’ve got to be able to literally coach everyone through every process. You have to be able to make all the sauces, all the dressings. After the 1990’s it turned into a managerial role where you’re scheduling, where you’ve got to be a little bit of a plumber, an electrician, a mechanic, a psychologist, a guidance counselor, a bookkeeper. You’ve got to know pretty much a little bit of everything…You’ve just got to be able to keep everyone on track, everyone in line, and everything up to standard.
RRFC: So testing recipes sounds pretty involved. Could you explain what you’re doing?
You’ve got to really be a geek about it and a nerd. It’s really not what they show you on Food Network….So what I’ve learned when making my recipes is that you have to adjust your recipes into weight measures instead of volume measures because volume measures are not accurate, products are not always consistent, especially if you’re doing things that are seasonal, and especially if you have staples on your menu.
Like one of our menu’s staples is oxtail, and the price of garlic is going to go up and down, and the potency of garlic is going to go up and down as the seasons change…So weight measures are way more consistent than actual volume measures. If you’re using cups, then you’re obviously not pricing right, and if you’re not pricing right, your recipe is not right.
So another thing I learned from experience is [to] make square measurements for your recipes. I don’t necessarily mean square as in multiples of two, but square as in, like, a “one and done” type method. So our rice and peas for example, we played with the recipe until we got to use an entire number 10 can of coconut milk…then you don’t have to worry about things like, constantly having to tell somebody, “Hey, take that can of coconut milk, pour it into a quart container, label it, date it, and store it in the refrigerator,”…[Because] the recipes and the food definitely influence the behavior in your kitchen as well.
RRFC: To take things a bit further, why is it so important to be so exacting about all this stuff?
It’s important to be exacting so that you’re not ordering short, you’re not ordering over, so that the restaurant as a whole is making money and also ease of replication. You want people to be able to replicate it as a whole.
RRFC: Based on what you said earlier, it sounds like you’re not a big fan of the Food Network. Could you tell us why?
Food Network makes it seem more about the cool hair and the cool shoes and all the tattoos and big beards and stuff like that, but at the same time you get these kids who go into culinary school now that have completely have no concept of fundamentals…
You’re out of the game if you can’t replicate a consistent product and a reviewer comes in and gives you a really [bad] review, and then people are not coming to your restaurant.
RRFC: What qualities are you looking for in potential apprentices?
Just one–enthusiasm. So if you have the drive and a love of art, like art as a whole. If you like art, then you’re going to do well. You have to know how to work…Also someone who knows how to clean up, look presentable, put out quality product, quality work, and take pride in their job. That’s just to start. Everything else you can mold and bring out different qualities and characteristics in people that they may either be trying to bring out, or some that they don’t even know that they have. Learn more about CASA.
RRFC: Your current CASA extern Gregory Wesolowski, how’s he shaping up?
Greg? He’s a hunter. He lives in the country in Georgia and he knows how to break down whole animals. So I see his food coming out crazily rustic, but pretty. And it’s going to be dope. I already know his trajectory is ridiculous.
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