"none" > wrote in message
news:kJnEc.943987$oR5.736937@pd7tw3no...
> Hi. My folks have hired a chef to help out with their menu, and I think
> they're being scammed and I hope someone around here can point me in the
> right direction. This chef has made a few strange comments that I don't
> believe indicate his prowess as a chef.
>
> To give some insight, my folks are about to open a Greek Restaurant (they
> had one before, but closed down to move to a new location and get a fresh
> start). Their menu is established, but they hope to gain the benefit of a
> chef to help trim the rough edges on their menu design. They hired him to
> work on prep and menu design, not to be a line cook.
>
> Anyway, one staple in Greek cuisine is Spanakopita. it's a spinich pie
type
> thing. My folks insist they use only fresh spinich for a richer flavour.
> This individual argued that you should not waste your money, and it
doesn't
> make a difference if you use frozen spinich. Is he correct? I feel that
> fresh vegetables have more flavour than frozen.

I've made it both ways. You have to cook it first anyway. I've never
tasted the slightest difference. There are plenty of fresh herbs in the
dish to more than make up for any loss in spinach flavor.

> Furthermore, this "chef" believes that fish should never be grilled. I'm
no
> expert in fine dining, so I hope someone around here could tell me if he's
> correct? I've had grilled Marlin before and loved it. He insists all
fish
> should only be pan fried, steamed, or poached. Personally I quite like
> grilled Salmon. He insists it comes out too dry.

Purely a matter of taste. Grilled fish is tricky to do right but it is
absolutely divine. The chef is probably of the mind that grilling crowds
out the natural flavor of the fish. To a degree it does. Again, doing it
right is hard. And not just any fish can be grilled.

> And the last thing this guy said was frozen fish should not sit thawed for
> more than four hours or it goes bad. My folks take the Salmon, thaw it
out,
> and marinade it for a day in the fridge and then serve it. Now in the old
> restaurant, they operated for five years without any major health
violations
> or incidents. This might be a fallacious appeal to perpetuitiy, but I
think
> he's just plain wrong. I mean, you can have chicken sit in the fridge
> overnight in marinade, cannot the same hold true for fish?

Fish rots very fast. The Japanese would probably never eat fish that has
sat at room temperature for 4 or more hours. Some taste buds pick up on the
bad taste very quickly. I think the chef has a delicate palate. As one
would expect a chef to have.


> If someone could answer me these three questions, I'd really appreciate
it.
> this guy's a goof, and I think he's going to take my folks for a ride. I
> guess in a way it's like your mechanic telling you what's wrong with your
> car - you believe him until you get a second opinion. I guess I'm just
> looking for some opinions on these matters.

Sounds like he is opinionated - just like any good chef. I tend to share
his beliefs for the most part.

Paul