Off The Menu, By
Chet Folkes
The Advocate, Baton Rouge, LA - Thursday, May 16, 1996
His years of experience as a professional chef and his ability to learn from others in the field paid off recently for Stephen Curry, who took several top honors at the Acadiana Classic culinary competition in Lafayette.
Curry is executive chef at the Café Americain on Jefferson Highway, and his presentation of Crab and Broccoli Soup, one of the restaurant's signature dishes, won him the gold medal in the soup category recently at the annual competition sponsored by the Lafayette area chapter of the American Culinary Federation. He was also runner-up for the Best-in-Show honor. The annual event provides the opportunity for young cooks to showcase their culinary talent and attracts chefs from Louisiana and several other states.
A native of Vietnam, Curry arrived in the United States as a war orphan when he was 5 years old. He was adopted by Lamar and Betty Curry and was brought up in Greensburg. He graduated from Oak Forest Academy in Amite.
He said he became interested in food because he always loved food, but he wasn't proficient at preparing when he attended Southeastern Louisiana University in Hammond, he added.
Curry is one of the early graduates of the Culinary Arts Institute of Louisiana in Baton Rouge, and he credits his interest and ability in cooking to the many chefs with whom he has worked.
He said he was intrigued and "wanted to learn more," when he got his first taste of cooking on a professional level.
"I've always tried not to know everything. I try to put my ego behind…I can learn more from listening," he said.
Curry joined the cooking staff at Café Americain in 1994 as sous chef and was named executive chef several months later. The restaurant owned by Brian Blackledge, is located in the Jefferson Plaza Shopping Center at 7521 Jefferson Highway near Lobdell. Since the purchase in 1988, Blackledge has built a reputation for serving seafood, chicken, pasta and interesting salads at moderate prices. The recipes, including the Crab and Broccoli Soup, were developed by Blackledge with the help of his family.
Curry said Café Americain's kitchen staff numbers about sever for lunch and four or five at the evening meals. The most popular dishes are the Crab and Broccoli Soup, the Shrimp and Angel Hair Pasta tossed with mushrooms, green onions, freshly diced tomatoes and olive oil, and the Seafood Fettuccine, a pasta dish served in a sauce of crabmeat, shrimp and crawfish.
One of the restaurant's recent additions to the menu is Crawfish Carolina, fried eggplant medallions topped with crawfish etouffee.
Curry has gained cooking experience at a number of restaurants in Baton Rouge and other areas since his graduation from CAILA. He still recalls a presentation made at the school by John Folse, owner of Lafitte's Landing restaurant and longtime chef of a Public Television cooking show.
"John Folse is my mentor. I use him as inspiration for Cajun-style food," he said.
After several years at college, his father encouraged Curry to attend a culinary school to learn the proper techniques of professional cookery.
After completing the CAILA course, one of his early jobs was working in the large, bustling kitchen of the Mississippi Queen, the New Orleans riverboat that cruises the Mississippi River up to the Ohio River. He started as a pastry chef and then did a variety of jobs with the kitchen staff of 20 which was required to serve breakfast, brunch, lunch, afternoon tea and dinner. Curry said there were two seatings for dinner each evening, with some 200 people at each sitting.
"It was a great experience," Curry recalls. "I figure if I could work there, I could work any where. It gave me a lot of confidence," he said.
His professional credentials also include work at the Embassy Suites, Taste of Bavaria near Ponchatoula, (where he was head chef) The Shenandoah Country Club, and the clubhouse at the Bluffs near St. Francisville.
Curry is currently taking classes in management and nutrition through the American Culinary Federation to earn official certification as an executive chef.
At home, he and his wife, Kimberly, enjoy cooking healthy foods on the open grill. He said, "I try to experiment with different grilling methods." He enjoys some Oriental foods, he said, "but I love Cajun-style food the best."
A recipe Curry developed for Café Americain follows.
BOW TIE CRAWFISH FLORENTINE WTH ITALIAN SAUSAGE
1 ½ lbs. crawfish
½ oz. butter
1 lb. Bow tie pasta (cooked)
2 cups fresh spinach (chop stems off)
3 cups heavy cream
2 ozs. Parmesan cheese
1 cup ground Italian sausage (cooked)
Salt and pepper to taste
1. Put 3 cups heavy cream in a large saute pan
2. Turn heat to medium high. Reduce cream until lightly thickened
3. Add crawfish, bow tie pasta, fresh spinach and Italian sausage. Let cook for 10 minutes. Add parmesan.
4. Finish by adding butter. Stir until melted. Season to taste.
5. Serve in pasta bowls
-Stephen Curry
Café Americain
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