NAVARRA GOURMET

Oriental vegetables, with particular focus on Thai vegetables

Willian Ledeuil “Ze Kitchen Galerie”, in París

Salt-free seasoning

His cuisine is salt-free. However this in no way means that his dishes are insipid; instead of salt, there is a contrast of flavours, based on a Thai inspired cuisine. For his culinary creations, the French chef, Willian Ledeuil, from the Ze Kitchen Galerie in Paris, plays with vegetables which he considers to be the vehicle for "expressing many different sensations and emotions such as passion, love or travel".

For the last seven years, his menus are full of Asian roots which blend well with more local vegetables. "I combine vegetables, roots, flowers and fruits, which are all essential ingredients. It's a game full of colours which also aims to highlight the architecture of the vegetables I use, their shapes", he explains.

This chef strives to bring a "feeling of being very close to nature" to his cuisine, so that diners can experience all the freshness and aromas of the food. As he reflected, "For me, it's very important to maintain vegetables in their natural state. Cuisine is our way of expressing ourselves, however nature must also be allowed to express itself through our cuisine. I like protecting nature because it offers us some real wonders". Despite the fact that the restaurant is located right in the heart of Paris, it still uses the fruit and vegetables grown in the Parisian basin.

His techniques were demonstrated in three recipes. In the first one, "Asparagus, Japanese turnip, green mango, green apple - turmeric condiment", Ledeuil achieves the salty sensation through the condiments, "which serve to bind the different recipe ingredients", as he explained. According to this French chef, who bases many of his dishes on herbs, vegetables and also Thai products, "I don't use flowers for decoration, but to give flavour to the dish".

For the seasoning in the second dish of "Peas - Galangal and Cardoon with lemon herbs" he added palm sugar dissolved in lemon juice. As this chef who prepares Thai-style soups and stock declared, "I want to bring out the actual taste of the peas without denaturing it through seasoning".

Finally, William Ledeuil prepared a dish focussed on highlighting vegetables, the key ingredients in his dishes. "Steamed vegetables, citrus condiment - miso - and Venice-style mustard" using a condiment based on tomatoes, ginger, rice vinegar and citrus fruits.

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