Chef's Choice - Nils Noren
Chef's Choice is a Unique and Inspiring Book that is a Perfect Gift for
Aspiring Culinary Students, Home Cooks, and Professional Chefs
Aspiring Culinary Students, Home Cooks, and Professional Chefs
I am happy and proud to announce that after its first year in print Chef's Choice: 22 Culinary Masters Tell How Japanese Food Culture Influenced Their Careers and Cuisine continues to inspire and educate new and experienced chefs.
In this savory collection of mini memoirs, 22 culinary masters tell who and what motivated them to become chefs. They described early career influences, training, favorite Japanese ingredients, tools, and the pivotal role Japanese food culture has played in their cuisine and professional development.
Participating chefs include Nobu Matsuhisa, David Bouley, Eric Ripert, Marcus Samuelsson, Michael Romano, Lee Anne Wong, Michael Anthony, Wylie Dufresne, Toshio Suzuki, Ben Pollinger, Toni Robertson, Eddy Leroux, Nils Norén, Yosuke Suga, Shinichiro Takagi, Suvir Saran, David Myers, Noriyuki Sugie, Elizabeth Andoh, Barry Wine, James Wierzelewski, and Ben Flatt.
Our goal in writing the book was to inspire, educate, and movitate student chefs, working chefs, home chefs, and everyone who admires Japanese food and culture. We wanted to go deep and learn from top chefs what it takes to succeed in today’s hyper-competitive restaurant world and the role that Japanese food culture played in their cooking and careers. We believe that the stories in Chef’s Choice can be a valuable resource for anyone pursuing a career in the restaurant business and those fascinated by Japanese food culture and cuisine.
We hope you enjoy it!
Influences
At 19, I was playing percussion in a reggae band when I woke up one morning and thought, "I've got to do something. I want to cook."
At 19, I was playing percussion in a reggae band when I woke up one morning and thought, “I’ve got to do something. I want to cook.” I went to an unemployment office that same day, and two days later I was auditing a cooking class. A week later I started cooking school. That was how it started, and I’ve never looked back. I think that from that time on, I’ve never worked less than 12 hours a day in the kitchen. I stayed at the school as much as I could, and I was there as early as possible. When I had an internship, I worked double shifts every single day because I felt I had to do this. Cooking became a passion right away, but to this day, I have no idea why I woke up that morning and decided I really wanted to be a cook.
Career Path
I got my first restaurant job after I graduated from culinary school at the age of 20 and went to work for one of the few one-star Michelin restaurants in Sweden. I started working in pastry, but they soon promoted me to sous chef. Less than a year later, I started cooking professionally; I was sous chef for a one-star restaurant! That was really scary, but I had worked hard, and it paid off. For the next eight years, I worked at a lot of different restaurants in Sweden. The first restaurant was French, and then I cooked in all kinds of places, from Asian to classic Swedish. I was executive chef for the first restaurant to receive the star from Michelin for cooking Swedish food.
There are a lot of similarities between Japanese food and Swedish food. I think that is part of why I find it so appealing.
There are a lot of similarities between Japanese food and Swedish food. I think that is part of why I find it so appealing. In Sweden, we have so much herring, gravlax, and other types of cured or raw fish. The textures and flavors are familiar to us. In terms of flavor, Japanese food has a little bit of sweetness to it, and Swedish food does, too. Also, the taste of Japanese food, like Swedish food, is very clean. In Sweden, there were a couple of stores near us where we could buy Japanese ingredients, and I think I was in that store at least three times a week. I was always trying to persuade those stores to get more and better-quality ingredients.
Marcus said, “Nils, I need a sous chef. I don’t want anyone else. I want you.”