"Alain Ducasse" news and stories

A few of the best links on the Web this week:

• The 2010 IACP Cookbook Award finalists have been announced and, surprisingly, Momofuku is not among them.
• Alain Ducasse talks to the Philippine Daily Inquirer about what makes him great.
• A comprehensive guide to making pizza at home.
• Our favorite figure-skater-turned-TV-chef mans a cheese cart -- this is not a joke.
• Confused about how to slice meat properly? Check out this guide.

Until this Monday, Babbo Pastry Chef Gina DePalma was the Kate Winslet of the culinary world, earning six James Beard Award nominations for the honor of Outstanding Pastry Chef but never taking the cake. The seventh time, though, proved to be the ... er ... icing. We caught up with DePalma this morning to chat about victory, pastry, her battle with ovarian cancer and her boss, the boisterous Mario Batali (aka Mr. Fanta Pants).

What did it feel like to the finally win a James Beard Award?
I tried not to break down into tears. I tried to keep myself together up there. After seven years, you try to emotionally turn yourself off. In past years I thought it was such a big deal to win, but it still felt good.

Is that why you were emotional on stage? That was part of it. It's also been a very tough year for me. I don't know if you know, I have been battling ovarian cancer. I was diagnosed four days after my sixth loss. I had a huge operation and went through chemo and lost all my hair. I am still in treatment. It was stage four. It was end of the line, but they got it all in surgery.

Hear why salted caramels should die and why DePalma is afraid to rock orange crocs after the jump.

It seems just about everyone has been transformed into a foodie thanks to such media phenomena as Top Chef and the Food Network. These days the gourmet brigade includes astronauts.

USA Today reports that NASA has figured out how important food is to astronauts living on the International Space Station who spend six months at a time in an environment devoid of fresh air and flora. Not only has the space agency realized that eating unsatisfying grub can have detrimental effects on morale, it's allowing the astronauts a ration of treats. Crewmembers are allowed to have a shoebox filled with shelf-stable treats. USA Today reports that a Madrid-born astronaut brought a "special Spanish ham." Shoot, sign me up. I'd travel to outer space for some jamon pata negra.

In addition to their shoeboxes of treats, the astronauts have enjoyed meals created by celebrity chefs. Back in August the crew of the International Space Station enjoyed dishes created by Emeril Lagasse. Last week they dined on a menu created by Alain Ducasse. The bill of fare included such stellar fare as red tuna with candied Menton lemon (pictured) and quails roasted in wine. Just in case anyone from NASA is reading this, I am not at all prone to motion sickness or claustrophobia, for that matter.

Source

At Alain Ducasse's restaurant in New York, like so many other very high end eateries, they are offering a menu that features white truffles. The tasting menu heavily features the expensive delicacy and costs $320 per person. This is unless, of course, you are able to score a free meal at the restaurant for you and a friend in the VIP room. Here's how to do it:

• Start a food blog. Make it well-written and humorous. Become popular.
• Get a book deal and lots of press.
• Get an e-mail from Ducasse's publicist and have the chutzpah to ask for a free dinner.
• Get lucky when the publicist gives you the "ok" and show up at the appointed time.
• If you want to have a hope of getting the same sort of deal again, go home and post about the whole experience (comic book format optional)

Simple, no? This is exactly what Adam, the Amateur Gourmet, did and he was rewarded with a night of truffle decadence at the Essex House - free.

Source

No, the rotund New Orleans-inflected celebrity chef will not be rocketing beyond the earth's atmosphere, but his food will.

Next week astronauts on the International Space Station will dine on a menu that Lagasse began crafting more than 18 months ago. The chef will chat with the astronauts next Thursday as they chow down on Mardi Gras Jambalaya, kicked up mashed potatoes with bacon, green beans with garlic, rice pudding, and mixed fruit. UPI's press release notes without a hint of irony that Lagasse is the first star chef to develop recipes served in outer space. It seems that's not entirely true. Alain Ducasse, one of haute cuisine's most successful chefs, has been working with the European Space Agency to give astronauts a taste of fine dining.

Perhaps we can look forward to freeze-dried meals from chefs coming to science museums sometime in the future. God knows they have to be better than Astronaut Ice Cream.

Source