Five Minutes With Alain Ducasse

If cooking were an Olympic sport, Chef Alain Ducasse would hold every world record. At 33, he became the youngest chef to earn three Michelin stars, a historical moment that also doubled as the first time a hotel restaurant received top honours from The Red Guide. Later he received three more stars at his eponymous Paris restaurant, making him the first chef in over 60 years to hold six Michelin stars simultaneously. Then he went on to shatter that record, receiving three more for his New York property. At the top of his game, his galaxy of Michelin stars numbered 14. He’s written more than 20 books, heads a cooking school, and runs 25 restaurants. In town for the Park Hyatt Masters of Food & Wine, Ducasse discusses how surviving an airplane crash changed his life, what his last meal would be and if there’s any chance he’ll open a restaurant in Shanghai. 

In the current media environment, chefs are expected not to just cook good food, but also be personalities in front of the camera. How do you think this trend toward celebrity affects chefs?

First, we are craftsmen, artisans. The attention of the media toward chefs is interesting, but the danger is that the interest passes. Rather than being a la mode, we have always insisted on being consistent in the long run. This is what we trust, rather than being fashionable because the risk with being fashionable is that one day you are out of fashion.

How do you prefer your eggs?

Poached – crispy, but not too dry – with a beautiful egg from a free-range farm. I actually raise chickens, and I prefer the eggs from my own chickens.

What’s the worst kitchen injury you’ve ever had?

When I was young, I was in a hurry and cutting some butter – it seems ridiculous, it was not even hard – but I was in such a hurry and the knife slipped [cutting me between my index finger and thumb]. I was not concentrating. Clumsiness is a weakness of the mind.

If you could cook your last meal, what would it be?

I would need a fisherman to go and catch a fish called a rouget, between 100 and 120 grams, from the Mediterranean. And a fire. Yes, one fisherman, one fish and one fire. I would just grill the fish, keeping the skin on and cooking it in its skin. No salt, no pepper. Just the taste of the fish – I’d keep everything else, all the bones.

Have you ever been intimidated to cook for someone?

We always cook with feeling because we consider each one of our clients very important. It’s a choice. We do our best for everyone, but that’s really something I’ve decided. Regardless of the style of the restaurant, whether it’s a bistro or haute cuisine, the chef will always do his best effort.

What is the one ingredient you could never live without?

Olive oil from the region where I’m from, somewhere between Liguria in Tuscany and the southeast of France.

You were the sole survivor of a plane crash when you were 24. How do you think this has shaped you?

It helped me understand what the difficulties were in my life… You have the ability to decide your destination. One day I faced a situation where I was unable to assume myself physically and intellectually. For me, this is what I call a problem. I have been facing this, and now that I have faced it and overcome it, everything else is not a problem. For everything else, there is always a solution.

Any chance of seeing an Alain Ducasses restaurant in Shanghai?

We don’t know. Maybe. It’s not the moment to speak about it. We’ve discussed many times about China, but we want to take our time to understand what the city is about. We need to better understand [Shanghai]. Maybe one day.