Wild Mushroom Fricassee Salad
Chefs' Tips
Tricks!
Fine Food, French Cooking by ANNA BROOKS photography by INGRID KUENZEL and DONG KIM
A sip of bright Beaujolais, the irresistible aroma of mirepoix bubbling in butter, the delicate crack of your spoon breaking a burnt sugar brulée crust… the French have a knack for making us fall in love with food.
French cuisine is often treated like an elixir, mysterious and complex, and impossible to replicate without years of scrupulous training. But home cooks fear not! This month we spoke with four local Alberta chefs who let us in on some secrets behind the fine food of the French. Dominique Moussu, managing partner and executive chef of Suzette Bistro in Calgary, hails from the Brittany region of northwest France. Incidentally, Brittany is probably one of the most beautiful places on the planet, and it’s no surprise the food from there is pretty good too. “The food at Suzette is a tradition, not a concept,” Moussu says. “We do
Chef Dominique Moussu
food that is really Brittany. Savoury galettes with cheese, egg, mushroom and spinach, crêpe bretonne, and a lot of seafood. For me, moules a la crème is to die for.” While Moussu’s carefully crafted techniques, honed over years at culinary school in France, may be difficult to 11
