Growing up in Troyes in France – a town traditionally known as the historical capital of Champagne and fine food – my path to a life in food was set from an early age. I would say that my first major influence would have been my mother, who is a great cook. My love for food came from having her home-cooked meals. She found out my interest in cooking when I first started baking at 8 years old, which was a yule log for Christmas! From then on, I always knew I would one day be a chef.
Over the past 30 years I have kept this passion for home-cooked foods, preferring cooking from scratch rather than using ready-made products and using the whole of the animal rather than just the main cuts of meat, to create flavour and a wholesome meal that brings me back home to the kitchen table with my mum. Today, I apply the same philosophy at home with the added bonus that we have a greenhouse and we can enjoy our own crops of tomatoes, peppers, broccoli, carrots, wild strawberries and fresh herbs.
When I was asked to write this article, I thought of a trip to France and a main course of sweet breads. They were braised whole then halved, coated in breadcrumbs and shallow fried. Then, they were topped with girolles in a creamy champagne sauce and served with fondant potatoes. Just delicious! Technically it was executed perfectly, with no short-cut flavour enhancers or pastes.
When I thought about the title a little more – Most Memorable Meal – I began to want to tell a different story of not only food, but life. A story that represents me, my values and the life of a chef in the world today. The day-in and day-out life of a modern chef is to provide memorable experiences for others (the number of pictures taken of dishes at The Kilkenny Cafe on a daily basis is testament to that!).
Personally, my most memorable meal takes place at home with my wife and daughter lzzy when we sit together. My wife and I were blessed with lzzy; she requires additional care which means as parents, like many other parents in the same situation, we cannot frequent restaurants as much as we used to. Indeed, it has been many years since we have had that indulgence!
From my childhood in France to evenings with lzzy,
I believe food doesn’t need to be technically complicated to be memorable.
It needs to be tasty of course, but I believe it needs to do more -it needs to feed the soul, to be given time to allow people and family be together. For me, that is the most memorable meal.
Fred Pallavione
Head Chef at The Kilkenny Café
The Shanagarry Design Centre, Co Cork
Fred Pallavione
Head Chef at The Kilkenny Café
The Shanagarry Design Centre, Co Cork
