Jay Veregge - Executive Chef, Big Water Grille

One of the greatest things about going out and eating at a fine dining restaurant is experiencing the centuries of culture that is now the sum of that dish sitting in front of you. The dish above is a great example of this. Growing up and spending a large portion of my culinary career in California, I can’t help but to be influenced by all the asian cuisine, flavors and ingredients that run rampant in my home state.

The dish shown in the picture above is one that I often hesitate to serve because it is so simple, yet my customers can never get enough of it. Seared Rare Ahi Tune with a Saki-Soy and Wild Spring Mushroom Broth, people always rave that it’s one of the best fish dishes that they’ve ever eaten. Although this is a dish that I created years ago, I can’t really take full credit for it.

After all, the flavor combinations of sake and soy mixed with a little carmalized ginger goes back centuries in Japanese culture. That’s why as a chef, I have gotten more inspiration from little hole in the wall ethnic eateries than all the great fine dining restaurants that I’ve ever eaten at combined. Not to take anything away from the great fine dining chefs of the world; all I’m saying is that behind every great chef is a love for ethnic “peseant” food.

Coq Au Vin, Pates and Duck Confit: this is what the peseants of France ate because it was what they could afford. Now, these foods are stapels of some of the finest restaurants in the world.

Why are these dishes so good. Because they’re backed by decades, centuries, maybe even milinias of tried and true flavors, techniques and culinary knowledge.

By eating at an establishment that stays true to it’s ethnic influences, one is truly able to understand culture through cuisine.  

Menu design is the single most important concept that one must grasp when a chef. After all, you can have the finest china and linens in the world, the most knowledgeable wait staff to be had, and even an extremely talented chef; but if the menu isn’t designed as a singular, cohesive vision, then all is lost. That’s why I’m writing a three part series on Menu Design. First up, “complexity hides flaws”.

It seems that a lot of well meaning yet ill informed chefs now days have thrown technique and flavor structure out the window, and instead reach for copious amounts of colored oils, aiolis and gels. These “sauces” are then forced in squeeze bottles and applied to the plate in any number of cliche squiggles, lines dots and dashes. Sure I’ve been known to use a squeeze bottle or two, but far too often I see colorful sauces squeezed on the plate for no better reason than that the “chef” thinks it “looks cool.”

What’s that old saying from Anthony Bourdain’s Kitchen Confidential, “an ounce of sauce hides a multitude of sins”? It has always been my philosophy that complexity in a dish does nothing more than hide it’s flaws. But simplicity, letting ingredients speak for themselves, using self control and not going all Picasso on your plates; trading in your “16 spice rub” for one singular spice and flavor that’s going to make your dish; that my friends, is real cooking.

Case in point: the salmon dish that’s shown at the beginning of this article is a great example of how beautiful a simplistic dish can be. The dish is Cured Salmon Belly Au Vec, with a Green Garlic Pesto, Dhanadal and Pomegranate Vinaigrette.

First, we cut the salmon belly off the side of salmon, and soak it in a weak brining solution. When we get an order, the belly portion goes straight from the brine to a 375 degree oil bath for about 30 seconds, just enough time to crust the outside.

The belly is then sliced and fanned on a streak of green garlic pesto, sprinkled with fluer de sel and dhanadal, dressed with a pomegranate vinaigrette, and garnished with micro cilantro.

This dish is a favorite among the regulars at Big Water Grille. It’s so simple, yet the flavor structure is divine. The salty-fattiness of the brined salmon belly goes great with the young taste of a spring garlic. The pomegranate vin, which is a little sour, is there to cut the overall richness of the dish. Add fleur de Sel for seasoning, dhanadal for overall balance. This dish is a great example of my philosophy on cooking and flavor structure.

Bottom line: you don’t need a million different components on the plate to make a great fine dining dish. Instead, start with the freshest ingredients, pair them with a couple of great complimentary flavors, and let the dish speak for itself.

by Jacob Burton, Sous Chef Big Water Grille

I received a phone call at the restaurant yesterday from a journalist inquiring about our organic options for a story she is doing for the Fox News Reno website. It’s not something that Chef Jay and I wear as a badge and advertise, because after all, saying you support organic farming and sustainable agriculture is like saying you don’t litter or pour motor oil down your storm drains. Supporting organic foods and sustainable farming is something that decent people do, it’s not something to be bragged about.

But after the conversation I had with the journalist, I was inspired to write a post about how Big Water Grille is doing it’s part.

Chef Jay, as some of you may know, spent years in the San Francisco Bay Area and the surrounding wine country before moving to Tahoe and taking over as Executive Chef of Big Water Grille. During those years he fostered relationships with many high end organic purveyors, and when he moved to Tahoe, he brought those relationships with him. In return for his loyalty, all of the purveyors that supply Big Water, whether it be meat, fish, or produce, make sure that he gets the highest quality and best tasting products available.

“But what does this have to do with organic food and sustainable agriculture?”

Because quite simply, organic products and food sources acquired from farmers who are practicing sustainable agriculture just tastes better. Sure it makes us feel all warm and fuzzy inside that we’re doing our part not to pillage our planet of it’s natural resources or pollute it with chemical fertilizers. But quite frankly, as chefs, we would have a much harder time swallowing the “organic pill” if it tasted worse than non organic.

The fact of the matter is, wild arugula taste better than farmed. Organic frisee taste better than non organic. And farm raised salmon not only taste horrific, but is raised in such rank filth that I wouldn’t feed the stuff to my dog much less a customer paying good money for an entree.

Instead of serving farm raised salmon, we serve Loch Duart. Named for the massive bay where the salmon are raised, the salmon has plenty of room to move and exercise, and are fed real food, instead of the pink pellets that most farm raised salmon consume.

Normally, a salmon’s natural diet consists of shrimp and other crustaceans which is why their flesh is a pinkish-orange. When salmon are farm raised, they aren’t able to feed on their natural diet. To counter this, salmon farmers feed the fish pink pellets, which dye their flesh pink.

Our support of sustainable agriculture also inspires some of our more “adventurous” menu items. When I told my mom about the head cheese we recently made with pig’s head, she was appalled. “I don’t know how my sweet son who’s such an animal lover can cook something like pig’s head!”

“To the contrary,” I replied “there is nothing more cruel than killing an animal and only serving it’s tenderloin or rib rack. Using the ‘economy’ cuts of an animal is not only challenging and ultimately more fulfilling, but it shows respect for the animal who’s life ended so you could eat dinner.”

At the Big Water, Chef Jay and myself take a lot of pride in utilizing every part of the animal. When we order ducks, we order them in whole and break them down ourselves into their individual parts. The breast is served on the menu as an entree. The legs become duck rillette or confit. The hearts, livers, and gizzards become pate. The skin is rendered down and the fat is used in any number of ways, and the left over bones are roasted and made into stock.

What it really comes down to is supporting local purveyors, organic products, and sustainable agriculture is necessary not only for our personal health, but ultimately the health of our planet.

Hey everyone! My name’s Jacob, and I’m the Sous Chef at the Big Water Grille. Chef Jay (he’s the one on the left), asked me to log on to his new blog and write a little something about all the fun (maybe too much?) we’ve been having with some pig’s head we recently received.

Since April and May is considered off season in Lake Tahoe, Chef Jay and I like to take the extra bit of time we have on our hands and make dishes that are a little more time consuming. So what’d we make with the beautiful pigs head? Head Cheese of course!

Head Cheese (not really a cheese at all) is made by first brining the pigs head overnight in a salty-spiced solution, and then the head is braised for about 6-8 hours until the meat becomes tender enough to pull off the skull. The head meat (including the tongue and jowls) are then diced, sauteed with plenty of butter, onions and fresh herbs, and packed into a terrine mold.

The braising liquid is then reduced down until it forms a soft, succulent gel when cooled, and is poured over the meat in the terrine mold to hold everything together.

Now before you go and get all squirmish on us, let’s talk about a few things.

First of all, if you like any sort of braised meat, like pork shoulder, short ribs, or anything of the sort, than you’ll love head cheese. The reason why the afore mentioned cuts of meat are so darn good is because they contain collagen and connective tissue, which when cooked “low and slow” break down into a hybrid of deliciousness and heaven.

The reason why pigs head taste so good (as long as you treat it properly) is because it contains oodles of collagen and connective tissue.

So let’s review: (Connective Tissue + collagen) X (Braising “Low and Slow”) = Gastronomic Heaven!

We ran it for the first time last night as an appetizer special and it was an absolute hit!

Served on a bead of frisse with home made sourdough and a little dab of good Dijon mustard, this dish screams simple goodness. One of our regulars, who knows a good head cheese when he sees it, ordered one for an appetizer and a second one to-go so he could eat it for lunch the following day.

So hurry into the Big Water Grille and try some of our head cheese. With the way it’s been selling, it won’t last long!

With a switch to the new ‘08 Spring menu, I truly feel like we’re taking the first steps towards realizing my vision for the food at Big Water Grille. The concept for this menu is fusing Indian, Persian and Thai flavors with traditional French technique, creating a personal style that is solely unique to us alone.

Featured in the photo above is one of our hottest selling entrees; Twice Cooked “Tikka” Pork with Citrus Cured Couscous, Spring Greens, Yellow Tikka Vierge and Warm Green Pear Chutney. We start by brining whole pork racks, then we remove the rack from the brine, give it a generous rub down with Tikka Marsala and let it cure out in our walkin. The brining and curing process allows us to safely grill the pork chop to a temperature of medium or medium rare, keeping the pork extremely juicy and tender.

We then make harissa spiced couscous with dried fruit and stuff it in a candied tangerine rind that is completely edible, adding a vibrant citrus flavor to the dish. We finish it with a one-two combo of yellow tikka vierege and warm green pear chutney. Absolutely delicious!

Flavor structure has always been priority number one for me when creating new menus. With the incorporation of flavors from India, Thailand and Persia, this new menu is one of the most exciting that I have ever developed.

So come into the Big Water Grille, say hello, and try our new spring menu. I guarantee it will be one of the best fine dining experiences you’ve ever had in Tahoe…..maybe even ever.

See you there.