Recipes Big Heart Artichoke and Parmesan Soup 5.0 (1,021) 1 Review David Myers's simple soup, with its intensely earthy artichoke flavor, makes the most of exemplary Big Heart artichokes. It's also a great way to use leftover Parmesan rind: Myers tosses it into the soup while it simmers, then discards it before pureeing. More Warming Soups By David Myers David Myers F&W Star Chef » See All F&W Chef Superstars Restaurants: Comme Ça, Los Angeles and Las Vegas; Hinoki & the Bird, Los Angeles; Pizzeria Ortica, Costa Mesa, CA; Sola and David Myers Cafe, Tokyo. Experience: Charlie Trotter’s, Chicago; Daniel, New York City; Patina, Los Angeles. Twitter: @chefdavidmyersInstagram: @gypsychef What is one technique everyone should know? How to salt. How to use good salts, and how to pick the right one for the right purpose. Fleur de sel is fantastic for finishing a dish, but a finer-grain sea salt is better for cooking. It’s also important to know when to season—generally speaking, throughout, not just at the end. If you’re making a soup, season a little every time you add a new ingredient to build flavor and penetrate every component. In my restaurants I like to use an Okinawan salt cultivated at the bottom of the ocean; it’s so fine, it rolls off of your thumb and index finger perfectly. But I also like La Baleine, the French sea salt that they sell at Whole Foods, in the blue bottle. I like sea salt better than kosher salt, because salt should come from the ocean, for that pristine sea taste. What are your favorite cookbooks of all time?The original Charlie Trotter’s cookbook, the red one. It inspired me in how to run a business, how to lead your life and motivate a team, as well as how to cook. When you open a book and see a chef is quoting Goethe and Dostoyevsky, you know something’s right. Ferran Adrià’s first book, El Bulli: El Sabor del Mediterráneo, which came out in 1993. I happened upon it at the great Paris cookbook store Librairie Gourmande, when I was working in France in 1997. I’d never heard of him, but as I flipped through it I thought, “My god, who is this guy?” That book blew me away in every way: visually, in how he plated, it was game-changing. My first Japanese book, Aji No Kaze: Windborne Flavors, by Hirohisa Koyama. I found it the same day I found the El Bulli book. Koyama is one of Japan’s greatest talents, and tutored a number of their three-Michelin-star chefs. His book is one of the most clean and calming books that I’ve ever read. It shows not only incredible food but the interaction between Koyama and his staff, his farmers, the spirituality of cooking in Japan.What is your secret-weapon ingredient? Yuzu koshō. It’s a green paste, a blend of yuzu peel and spicy koshō peppers. It’s a fantastic way to spice up a dish, with a unique edge. I love it on grilled meats, even pasta, in fillings like little ravioli, or stirred into butter for a pasta sauce. What is your fantasy restaurant? A restaurant that would constantly evolve based on my travels—everything from the design to the location to the staff uniforms to the music. I’d do my own take on the food, too, not some authentic representation. Better yet, I would take in a world tour, and do a pop-up in each country. If you were going to take Thomas Keller, Tony Bourdain and/or Mario Batali out to eat, where would it be? I’d take them through my black book of Japan’s best places, like Toritama, which I think has the finest yakitori in Tokyo, plus an amazing shochu and sake selection. The vibe is traditional Tokyo with an edge, with live jazz. They only focus on unique parts of the chicken, like the heart—nothing typical. What is your current food obsession? Japanese grilling and their different charcoals. Binchōtan charcoal is their highest grade; it’s harder than our charcoal, and releases less smoke, so it’s the favorite of yakitori chefs. With most grilled foods in America, you taste the wood more than the food. Chicken yakitori cooked over binchōtan highlights the flavor of the chicken. At the new restaurant we’re going to be doing that, simply grilling meat and fish, which people can season with lemon or lime or whatever condiment we set out. What are the dishes that define who you are? I’m all about using seafood and citrus in the simplest of ways—finding that sweet spot between the ingredient and a few wisps of something, whether a jab of tamarind or the scent of kaffir lime leaf or the punch of yuzu koshō. I’ve always been drawn to that style of eating, too, in my travels, whether in Japan or Hong Kong or Vietnam. So one dish I had at a restaurant in Tokyo called Sushi Shin was a snapper cured in kombu, then seasoned with the green citrus sudachi and some yuzu koshō and that was it. A similar dish we developed for fall at Comme Ça is our hinoki-scented cod, black cod marinated in a soy-based blend, scented with a burned piece of hinoki cypress.1999 Best New Chef Bio Why Because his contemporary French dishes combine multilayered flavors with Japanese minimalism. Born Boston, 1974. Experience Charlie Trotter's, Chicago; Daniel, New York City; Patina and Jaan, Los Angeles. Most exotic item on Sona's menu Baby monkfish tail with watercress-shellfish broth. "We emulsify watercress with mussel juice and add pearl tapioca and mussels. The emulsion is so bubbly and alive, it looks like the waves after they crash. We serve it in Izabel Lam porcelain bowls, which have a texture like rolling waves." Heroic moment "One night, we did 79 different tasting menus for 83 guests. When we're designing our tasting menus, we like to see if our guests are in a risky mood." Latest obsession Kokekokko in L.A. "For $25, you can get a chicken tasting menu: You get raw chicken-breast sashimi as well as the beak, tongue, innards and the heart. You have to drink so much beer with that." Won Best New Chef at: Sona, Los Angeles Food & Wine's Editorial Guidelines Updated on May 3, 2017 Print Rate It Share Share Tweet Pin Email Photo: © Dana Gallagher Active Time: 30 mins Total Time: 1 hr Yield: 4 Ingredients 1/2 lemon 4 Big Heart or globe artichokes (1 pound each) 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil 3/4 pound Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch pieces 4 large shallots, halved 3 large garlic cloves, halved Salt 1 cup dry white wine 4 cups chicken stock or broth One 4-ounce Parmesan rind, plus 1/2 cup of shavings, for garnish 12 thyme sprigs and 1 tablespoon whole black peppercorns, tied in cheesecloth 1/2 cup heavy cream 1 cup pure olive oil Directions Fill a large bowl with cold water and squeeze the lemon half into it. Working with 1 artichoke at a time, snap off the outer leaves. Using a sharp knife, trim the stem and base of the artichoke and cut off the top two-thirds of the leaves. With a spoon or melon baller, scrape out the furry choke. Rub the artichoke heart all over with the lemon half and add back to the water. Repeat with the remaining 3 artichokes. Cut 3 of the artichoke hearts into 1-inch pieces and return them to the water. In a large saucepan, heat the extra-virgin olive oil until shimmering. Drain the artichoke pieces and pat dry. Add them to the saucepan along with the potatoes, shallots and garlic; season with salt. Cook over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are lightly browned and barely tender, about 20 minutes. Add the wine and cook until nearly evaporated, about 7 minutes. Add the chicken stock, Parmesan rind and thyme bundle and bring to a boil. Cover partially and cook over moderately low heat until the vegetables are tender, about 30 minutes. Discard the thyme bundle and Parmesan rind. Working in batches, puree the soup until smooth. Return it to the saucepan. Add the heavy cream and season with salt. Keep the soup warm. Drain the whole artichoke heart and pat thoroughly dry. Thinly slice the heart on a mandoline. In a medium skillet, heat the pure olive oil until shimmering. Add the sliced artichoke heart and fry over high heat, stirring occasionally, until golden, about 1 1/2 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the fried artichoke slices to paper towels to drain; sprinkle lightly with salt. Ladle the soup into bowls. Mound some Parmesan shavings in the center, top with the fried artichokes and serve. Suggested Pairing Artichokes are notorious wine-killers—for one thing, they contain cynarin, a chemical that enhances the perception of sweet flavors. Yet in this rich soup, the artichokes are balanced by Parmesan and heavy cream, so an aromatic, lushly fruity white like Viognier pairs nicely with it. Rate it Print