July 16, 2003 Ask the Chef Article

July 16, 2003 ... Ask the Chef ... John Pisto

Mentors of food and wine: Here’s to a few of my most important mentors, the Mercurio family of St. Tropez: Antoine, Annette, and my great friend and damage doer, Patrick. I was introduced to this family by my brother-in-law, Jean Mercurio, in 1976 when I wanted to go to France and experience the food and wine. Since my brother-in-law Jean had family there, he called up his lovely sisters Angel and Rosale, brother Joe, numerous cousins, nieces, and nephews. What an incredible family! But it was Antoine Mercurio that really took me under his wing and

introduced me to the food and wines of Caen, Nice, Marseie, La Ciotat and his town St. Tropez. He arranged for me to cook in local kitchens and set up tours for wine tasting. Every night we would go to different restaurants and taste the local specialties. Folks, this was graduate school for me. Antoine is a very busy man, building and selling world-class yachts that cost millions, and his connections are as good as they get. Once he got us a ride to Paris on his friend’s private jet to a restaurant for a special dinner where I first tasted bouillabaisse made by the true champ of them all “ Chez Fefine”

who was 80 years old at the time. We also tasted fish stuffed with sausage and spinach, drank a bottle of local rosé and Domaine Ott blanc de blanc, a wine that I love to this day. He also introduced me to foie gras, bourride (a Mediterranean fish soup similar to bouillabaisse), vegetables farci (stuffed in a variety of ways), soufflés, soup de poison, the tiny ravioli of Nice (the best in the world!), the flower markets, hotels, and restaurants in Caen and Nice. Antoine and Patrick, I am forever thankful for you two dynamos. May our adventures continue as well as our friendship.

Q: Dear Chef,

I’m looking for a good crab Louie recipe. Since we enjoyed one at your restaurant, we thought you would have a good recipe for this. Can you help?

Shari C.

Via e-mail

A: Shari, pure and simple the secret is hand picked (you boil the crab) fresh crab meat. Make sure the water is salted and boil your crabs 12 minutes per pound.

Salad

1 1/2 lb. crabmeat

lettuce (chopped romaine, iceberg or a mix of whatever you like)

blanched asparagus spears or green beans (five per salad)

sliced red and green bell peppers

olives (your favorite kind)

sliced tomatoes

sliced cucumbers

capers

lemon wedges

Dressing

1 cup mayonnaise

1/4 cup chili sauce

1/4 cup minced scallions

2 tsp fresh lemon juice

2 Tbsp finely chopped parsley

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

1 tsp Worcestershire sauce

Kosher salt

Fresh ground pepper

Combine all dressing ingredients. Mix lettuce with the dressing. Place on plates, add crabmeat, top with a little more dressing and garnish with vegetables, capers, olives and lemon wedges. Enjoy with some crusty bread and a couple cold glasses of Baywood Cellars Symphony - one of the up and coming new white wine varietals.

Hey folks, remember the youngster that would only eat zucchini? Well I got a very nice letter from a Mrs.Bemis that I think is worth printing, so here you go. I agree that starving him may be the way to go, but only if he doesn’t take the money. (I hope this isn’t against the law. In my day, one look from my father was enough to make me eat anything).

It reads: Dear Mr. Pisto, in your column of June 25, you responded to a parent in St. Tropez. His child would eat only zucchini. I think he was pulling your leg, but in case he wasn’t, I offer this suggestion.

Instead of recipes you should have given him this advice: Without comment, serve the child the same food the rest of the family is eating. When he hasn’t eaten it, remove the food without comment. Repeat as often as necessary. Hunger will very soon help him with a decision. This is an exercise in discipline, just for parents. This child is a manipulator and this is his way of gaining power to have his way. I suspect other problems than just the eating.

A faithful reader, Bemis

P.S. No zucchini in the house!

Guess what folks, Cornucopia Market at the mouth of Carmel Valley, sells Frog Hollow fruit. These are, without a doubt, the sweetest I have ever had. So, you don’t have to drive all the way to the Santa Cruz Farmers market after all.

Got a call from Dana Durrand up in Alaska. He said the fish are biting and the weather is calm. So here we are once again in Angoon, on Admiralty Island in Southeast Alaska. We counted 18 bald eagles this morning from our breakfast table at Favorite Bay Sportfishing Lodge and have just finished taping several shows for “Monterey’s Cookin’ Pisto Style.” Today is our free day to fish and mushroom hunt - oh boy! So far we have caught 4 varieties of salmon, 4 kinds of huge rock fish, a large true cod, a halibut, 8 Dungeness crabs and 12 pounds of spot prawns (or Monterey prawns, as we know them). Today we’re going out for the giant halibut (over 100 lbs.) Our skippers are Michele and Larry Henry of Sitka. They run a 35 ft. pilothouse stretch called the “Hula Girl”. This is a luxurious sport fishing service - really first class.

Yesterday we cooked all morning with Chef Pierre Coutou and assistant Devin Peck. We cooked salmon tacos, salmon with sweet vinegar and onions and salmon papilote - all easy and delicious. Then we grilled some 1-pound herring and what a surprise they were. You see, up here they’re considered only bait (they don’t know what they’re missing). The boat ride to the fishing grounds is totally spectacular. The water is like glass, no wind, just endless forest all around, snow capped mountains and us. It is absolutely the best there is! Also on the menu was baked halibut with aioli (garlic mayonnaise), sautéed spot prawns, and fresh cracked crab. Recipes to follow here next week. Check out my web site for more photos and www.favoritebay.com for more info on this unique resort experience.

For more info about John Pisto's fine restaurants

in Monterey, California, click here.

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