Audio By Carbonatix
Jacques Pepin showed Eric Ripert a thing or two in a friendly cook-off at the Arsht Center Celebrity Chef series Friday night. With nine minutes to go on the 30-minute clock, Pepin, who found time to make dessert in addition to the two dishes he and Ripert were expected to prepare, proclaimed: “Do we have to wait until the end or can we start plating?”
After an introductory interview by Anthony Bourdain, the two French chefs were given a mystery basket with a whole chicken, a whole fish, fennel, asparagus, quinoa, cauliflower, oranges and a mango. Pepin, perhaps feeling as if he was in one of his TV shows, gave the play-by-play of everything he was doing, while a quieter (probably not by choice) Ripert looked focused. Both made chicken bouillabaisse as one of their dishes.
And while there was no winner in this cook-off, the audience got a good tease from the aromas coming out of the kitchen and a good laugh out of the chefs’ candid answers to Bourdain’s questions.
Continue reading for some sound bites:
When news happens, Miami New Times is there —
Your support strengthens our coverage.
We’re aiming to raise $30,000 by December 31, so we can continue covering what matters most to you. If Miami New Times matters to you, please take action and contribute today, so when news happens, our reporters can be there.
“Any good mother would have wanted her child to marry an architect, a lawyer, not a cook. Now we’re geniuses.” Ripert on working for Joel Robuchon … “I’m still traumatized.” “It was a very, very tough kitchen. He was considered a genius at the time and we were working there because he was a genius and we would accept any kind of abuse from him and he knew that.” Is fine dining dead? Ripert: “Can you go see a concert of U2 and say opera, ballet and the philharmonic is dead? … A lot of restaurants that are not upscale are doing very well. However, fine dining is very healthy and I don’t see any signs of that aspect of the industry dying.” Pepin: “The day it dies people won’t buy Mercedes, Lamborghini or any of those Porsches …” On Gordon Ramsay’s Hell’s Kitchen … Ripert: “I refuse the idea of glorifying abuse.” Favorite French comfort food… Pepin: My mother’s Ripert: French fries Food they’d eat in an eating contest … Pepin: Caviar Ripert: Truffles Least favorite food … Pepin: Marshmallows Ripert: Brain Favorite meal cooked by their wives … Pepin: “My wife was born in New York city from a Puerto Rican mother and a Cuban father. [Audience goes wild]. So arroz con pollo and some of the stuff she does with pork with black beans and all that.” Ripert: “My wife is Puerto Rican too. The last experiment was hard-boiled eggs in the microwave … ” Ripert on favorite Miami restaurants … Casa Tua and Prime 112. And finally, the quintessential question, if they were on death row what would be their last meal …
Pepin on being a chef then vs. now…
Pepin: “It’s a parody of what people often think a chef should be …”
Pepin: If I’m on death row I couldn’t eat.
Bourdain: What do you drink?
Pepin: A bottle of scotch to make it easier.
Ripert: I’m not sure. A good bottle of Bordeaux and maybe something
like a roasted chicken with wild mushrooms, something that lasts a long
time.
