Dominique Crenn of LuceSunday, July 5, 2009 When her mother took ill long ago, Dominique Crenn remembers how her father, a well-known French politician, tried to shoulder the responsibility of cooking for the family in their home in Versailles, France. The beets in the salad came to the table unpeeled. The meat was burnt. It was an all-around disaster. So Crenn decided to take over the task herself. Until her mother recovered, Crenn tossed together fresh salads, composed charcuterie and cheese plates, and roasted succulent chicken and lamb dishes. She was 9 years old. Crenn, now the chef de cuisine of Luce restaurant in San Francisco's Intercontinental Hotel, always has been a take-charge person. Even when culinary school directors in France gave her the brush-off, telling her she'd never make it as a woman in such a male-dominated profession, she soldiered on. "It's because I'm an Aries," the 44-year-old says with a laugh. "I'm stubborn. I'm very passionate. I'm very competitive." She grew up with quite the food education, too. She was adopted at 18 months by a French couple from Brittany, an agricultural mecca, celebrated for its impeccable apples, cider, butter, oysters and scallops. Her mother, a fantastic cook with an adventurous palate, took her young daughter to experience Indian, Chinese, Japanese and Vietnamese restaurants in Paris. Her father, who was a friend of French President Charles de Gaulle and one of the youngest men to fight in the Resistance, would take his daughter along when he dined with his best friend, a famous French restaurant critic. Crenn was eating in Michelin-starred restaurants when she was 8 years old. Antsy during those long dinners, she would wander into the kitchen, entranced by the cooks. "It was like watching an army," she says. "They all dressed the same. They were all doing their own thing. It was so peaceful." After graduating from a university in France with a degree in economics and international business, Crenn decided to follow her heart, moving to the United States at age 21. "I came to San Francisco," she says. "And the moment I got here, I just felt like it was home." She started working at one of the hottest restaurants in town at the time, Stars, alongside chef Mark Franz and pastry chef Emily Luchetti, both now at Farallon. Crenn later was recruited by the Intercontinental Hotel in Jakarta to become Indonesia's first female executive chef. She hired an all-female brigade of local Indonesian women and called that yearlong experience "one of the most amazing of my life." Her far-flung travels, as well as her Moroccan heritage from her birth father, have shaped her cooking. She collects spices wherever she goes, adding them to her repertoire. She loves to entertain, despite living in a studio condo in San Francisco, where the kitchen counter space is tinier than most coffee tables. She thinks nothing of inviting friends over after service for homemade ice cream, short ribs, sandwiches or simple fish dishes. In summer, melons are a favorite, reminding her of the ones her mother would serve, drizzled with Port. At markets in the Bay Area, Crenn picks out Charentais, Galia and watermelons. She looks for the most aromatic, giving each a gentle squeeze to ensure it's just firm enough. She likes pairing melon with tomato in a salad because the melon's sweetness is a perfect foil for the tomato's acidity. Pickling the watermelon rind not only means that nothing goes to waste, but also adds a vibrant tang to the whole dish. Although this dish - ideal for a first course or light lunch when entertaining - has several components, each part is simple to make. If it still seems like too much work, Crenn suggests making just one or two components - just the refreshing melon drink or the salad without the pickled rind, for example. However, the salad has been such a hit when she's made it at home that she's adding it to Luce's menu later this month. To those who insisted she'd never make it as a chef, what would Crenn say now? "Ah, it's not about revenge or giving someone the finger," she says. "I think having them see my success is the best answer." Melon & Heirloom Tomato Salad with Pickled Watermelon & Melon ShotServes 4 to 6 as a first course Refreshing, light, and vegetarian, this dish by Luce chef Dominique Crenn incorporates two of summer's best ingredients - melons and tomatoes. The pickled watermelon rind must be salted overnight, so plan accordingly.
For the pickled watermelon rind: Trim off skin, and cut rind into 1-inch cubes. Sprinkle pickling salt over rinds and refrigerate overnight. The next day, rinse the rind, and drain well. Cover rind with cold water in a large saucepan. Cook on medium heat just until tender. In another small pan, bring sugar and vinegar to a boil. Tie mustard seeds, cinnamon and clove in a cheesecloth. Place in the sugar-vinegar mixture to infuse it. Add watermelon rind cubes, and simmer about 35 to 50 minutes or until transparent. Add water if necessary, so that the rinds are fully immersed. Remove spice bag, and let rinds cool in the mixture. For the melon shots: Peel and slice Galia melons. Place melon in a blender with mint leaves and lime juice. Blend until smooth. Pour mixture through a coffee filter or sieve. Refrigerate until serving. For the salad: Using a small melon ball scoop, make melon balls from the Charentais melons. With a small cylindrical cookie cutter, cut small cylinders from the watermelon. Alternatively, you can use a melon ball scoop to make small balls instead. In a bowl, mix melon balls and cylinders with orange juice, as well as orange and lime zests to taste. In another bowl, toss tomatoes with basil, mint, olive oil, balsamic syrup, sea salt and pepper. Mix together the melon balls and tomato salad. Place in the center of a serving plate. Arrange pickled watermelon rinds around the melon-salad mixture. Pour chilled melon juice into shot glasses or martini glasses, and serve. Per serving: 180 calories, 4 g protein, 45 g carbohydrate, 2 g fat (0 g saturated), 0 mg cholesterol, 41 mg sodium, 4 g fiber. Carolyn Jung is a Bay Area freelance writer and blogs at FoodGal.com. E-mail her at food@sfchronicle.com. This article appeared on page K - 4 of the San Francisco Chronicle |
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