In the Kitchen: Fred Berkmiller of restaurant L'escargot blanc, Edinburgh

placeholder image — In the Kitchen Fred Berkmiller chef

This year sees Edinburgh restaurateur and chef Fred Berkmiller turning 50 years old and he admits reaching this milestone has caused him to pause and take stock.

“What do I want? Do I want to be in catering? Big questions.”

It's therefore, the perfect time to reflect on what he and his partner Betty have achieved over the years, here in Scotland.

They first opened Petit Paris in the Grassmarket in 1998 then a second west-end restaurant in 2004 which morphed into what is now L'escargot blanc and L'escargot bleu on Broughton Street in 2009.

So how does he intend to celebrate his big day?

“The same as every year, socializing cooking and drinking. We have an old school house, at our home in France with a huge oven but no electricity, so candles for lights. We cook on a barbecue or in the oven, that is all we do.”

Upstairs interior at L'Escargot blanc, Edinburgh

Brexit

As the UK leaves the EU on the 31st of January we tentatively ask this French Scot for his thoughts.

“I have no political standpoint, I don't think the European Union is a good thing but I also don't think Brexit is good either. It was annoying and upsetting to have to apply for the right to stay here, both our kids are Glaswegian, born in Scotland.”

“Our kids have dual nationality and we are looking into full status, we might become British, it might take time. Do I want to be British? I've lived in the UK longer than I lived in France” he ponders.

“Initially the process was confusing it took two evenings online, but once you reread it, and got your documents, proof of address, income council tax and national insurance contributions it was alright.

“I don't know, we just have to deal with what happens, if the price of wine price goes up, our prices have to go up.”

Cockerel

The large carcass is divided and the breast meat taken off, cut into escalopes with a thickness of about 1 cm. The rest of the fowl is then be slowly marinated, in three litres of red wine, with vegetables and will then be turned into a coq au vin.

Fred then adds butter to a hot pan waiting for it to turn brown before adding a couple of cloves of garlic, which he bashes on the counter with his hand. He then carefully places the three pieces of meat to cook, along with thyme salt and a sprinkle of black pepper.

Once it is cooked until golden it rests, Fred adds finely chopped onion to the pan and the snails to start to make the sauce.

“We normally get them from Barra, when they are in season, March to December, so I'm not going to lie, today I'm using French ones.”

He then adds the gelatinous beef stock adding, “the better your stock, the better the taste, the more the love you put into it, the better the results".

"You see people cooking for 10 seconds, so my type of cooking has almost disappeared,” he says before he adds a ladle of chicken stock into our dish. A little dash of Armagnac, before covering the meat with the lid on to allow it to cook and blend into the escargot sauce mix.

He then asks for some potato and carrot mash to be warmed with milk.

“In the kitchen I can ask and things happen whilst in the garden, I'm on my own,” he chuckles.

He adds a final piece of butter to the sauce which is finished on low heat, and a good handful chopped parsley.

“I love butter you can never have enough.”

The verdict

Le Lapin

The star of this dish is the tender meat, which is moist and flavoursome, the balanced sauce has complex notes, but you can identify the depth and tone of the beef, the mid notes of chicken stock but the high point delivered by the magic ingredient, the sweet prunes.

A dash of fresh parsley and the warmed heritage potatoes including pink fir apples were delicious.

Le Coq

The elongated tender texture of the cockerel makes for a slightly more robust taste than chicken, but it is undervalued meat. The Escalopes are covered in a rich shiny sauce. Snail a new taste sensation for me is unexpectedly good, the classic French culinary flavour boosted by time spent simmering in the stock.

A serving of potato and carrot mash, smooth and soft as a pillow, the perfect accompaniment.

Thinly sliced baguette on hand to mop up every morsel, c'est magnifique.

Under the grill: Quick Q & A with Fred

Describe your cooking style? and why are you passionate about it? Traditional, French-inspired fusion etc.

“Being French-born and bred, and having been trained from an early age in France, I definitely received a classical influence and a reflects the era from the 70 and 80s.

"So long hours making basic stocks to enhance flavours using a slow cooking style, and using mainly terroir provenance ingredients.”

What was your first job in the industry? Plus where were you before?

“I started at the early age of 14 as a pre-apprentice in a Routier restaurant in St Maure de Touraine where I worked for two years and learned all the basics of cooking. I then moved on to the second part of my training at a Michelin-starred restaurant in Tours, and graduated as a chef two years later. This was more of a fine-dining place, or Nouveau Cuisine as it was called.

"Making foie gras and turning vegetables, including mushrooms, was a daily task. I then had a trip to Monaco with Roger Verger, and a few months working in Paris before heading to London in late 1988. I never went back to France.”

Favourite spice? And what dish/recipe would you suggest using it in?

“Definitely, we call then the four epices (4 mixed spices). It’s a must in classic French cooking made of ground nutmeg, black pepper, ginger and cinnamon.”