Few good restaurants in Bali have distinguished themselves with such talent and inspiration as award winning Mozaic Ubud restaurant run by chef Chris Salans. Chris was born in the US but moved to France with his parents at the age of two. As a boy, he was sitting at the kitchen counter watching her mother cook traditional French dishes. Chris returned to the US for college, then returned to France to train for these prestigious restaurants like Oustau de Baumanière Bouley Bakery and Louis Carton in Paris. Later in his career he worked as chef David Bouley at various facilities in New York and the French "Bouchon" bistro Thomas Keller in Napa Valley in California before discovering the secrets of Asian ingredients and the opening of Mozaic in 2001 . Since its acceptance as a member of the exclusive French culinary combination the Grandes Tables du Monde in 2004, French-Asian restaurant, served in a gazebo with 60 seats, has become a showcase for the work "baking market "Chris's style, which takes in- premium seasonal ingredients and incorporates a range of french dishes presented in a high gastronomic style. new cookbook Chris Mozaic: French Cuisine, Balinese Flavors has been published by Editions Didier Millet in 2011.
The inspiration comes from fresh products arrive daily at Mozaic, my walks through the night markets, my travels across the desert Bali or just to eat at local restaurants where Indonesian flavors are authentic.
Do you use sauces or secret ingredients
I have a secret? My passion for ingredients and excellence in the creation and food service. I have not invented so that there are no secrets. I think every chef translated recipes or flavors of how he or she perceives. I guess many people like the way I portray flavors.
Is Mozaic serve what would be considered "health foods"?
I would say that most of my food is not too high in fat. Fats are used for cooking, but are rejected and not served to the guest. As I myself have high cholesterol, I learned to cook with less saturated fat, but in the end you have to have a bit of butter to make the food taste better! As the old saying goes "the three secrets of French cuisine is butter, butter and butter!"
What is your favorite in the menu?
I can not say I'm a favorite. We change the menu of the day depending on arrivals of fresh ingredients, so we have a long list of signature dishes. But I can definitely tell you, when it comes the Balinese tastes, my favorites are basic Gede, kecicang, and kecombrang Belimbing buluh.
Where do you shop?
There more mystery as to where to find imported ingredients. Bali now has a number of outlets in the flow of imported foodstuffs. for local ingredients, please go on the market in your area! Rediscover why you are in Bali, meet people, see what fresh ingredients they have, but you have to go early in the morning to get fresh choice!
I thought a book for a few years but never had the time until I finally decided to sit down and work on last year. There were so many factors to consider - which recipes and ingredients to include, write my recipes and make them easy to use at home, ensuring the flow was interesting, choose good photos so the dishes were represented correctly. The book took more than one year from initial planning until we went to press. It was difficult, but in retrospect the whole exercise was very interesting.
What was the most enjoyable part of working on the project?
The satisfaction of having led the team working on the book toward the goal I wanted to achieve. Each member - author, photographer, editor and graphic designers - were key to making the book a success. Once I realized that the team achieved what I wanted, it was extremely satisfying and fulfilling.
Are there recipes in your cookbook not included in the Mozaic menu?
Since we do not have a fixed menu at the restaurant, you can say a lot of the recipes in the book are not found at Mozaic. They were at one point in time, and may return one day. It is a constantly changing menu, so who knows!
In your mind, what is the greatest value from your book?
Helping readers discover beautiful new ingredients and giving them ideas on how to develop recipes for their enjoyment. Most cookbooks written on the output of traditional dishes, but I wanted to take the player to a new level. Instead of teaching the rendang recipe, I prefer to show how to get that great taste and include it in a dish that is Western in appearance but recalls spices and the deep richness of Rendang.
The dishes shown in your book look very elegant and fancy. These recipes are difficult to prepare at home?
You will see the legend that some recipes are written with one or two small forks. We chose this symbol to identify the degree of difficulty of the recipe. The fork should be little difficulty if you read the instructions carefully method. For recipes that are classified as being more difficult, basically, I would say it is a good knowledge of cooking techniques or practices some recipes may be required. At the end of the cooking Mozaic is not easy to replicate. If it was, then Mozaic would not be what it is today!