His signature: good, beautiful and delightful!
“Today’s cooking! I’m not interested in the cuisine of the past or that of the future. Traditional or contemporary? Now, successful restaurants serve good food at the right price”.
“Piège” cooking at home?
“Of course! Cooking is manifold: it can be simple (I adore eating spaghetti bolognaise with ketchup) and more elaborate, both in a restaurant and at home”.
His source of inspiration
“It’s always been the same and I define it for the eyes and ears: it’s everything around me, not only cooking, but above all life”
His favorite recipe?
“It isn’t a recipe, it’s a type of cuisine: I find that cooking a very lovely piece of meat is really interesting. It’s really fabulous when it succeeds. It seems to be easy but, in fact, it’s really difficult. Before cooking, you have to sear the roast in a skillet, then place it on a metal sheet and put it on the rack of the oven. Coat with butter, insert pieces of garlic, sprinkle with rosemary and thyme and cook in an oven at a temperature of 3 (90°C) or 4 (120°C). From time to time, to flavor the meat, not to nourish it as often thought, you have to baste it with a little fat from the sheet below. The grill gives the meat a magnificent flavor.
A successful dish?
“A dish that’s remembered! A dish that’s good always has indications: taste, texture, appearance,… When a dish is good and creates a feeling… you can consider that you succeeded”.
Bon appétit ! Béatrice
© Pictures: front page Jean-François Piège, inside page Jean-François Piège