Get to Know Chef Hunter B. - Q&A
When did your passion for cooking begin?
My passion for cooking began when I was 7 years old. I would experiment in the kitchen (with no recipes) to see what I could create. The first thing I ever made was a three-ingredient chocolate cake (Hershey’s, egg, and sugar). I think my mother pretended to like it, which was enough encouragement for me to keep trying. As I grew older and spent more time with her in the kitchen, I learned proper techniques and started to develop my skills and palate, getting serious about cooking when I was 16 or so. When my friends in High School were going to parties, I was in the kitchen making pastries. I wouldn’t have had it any other way.
Where do you pull your culinary inspirations from?
I’m frequently inspired by the ingredients I have the opportunity to work with. We work with several local farmers and butchers that bring in new products seasonally; a couple of weeks ago our butcher had some beautiful duck breasts, so I got a few dozen and started experimenting with preparations. I started with the traditional French preparation duck à l’orange, which was a great jumping-off point. From there I paired different fruits with the sauce to give it a unique twist, eventually settling on shallot & cherry as the best pairing. Sometimes I get really into regional cuisines, for instance last month I was experimenting a lot with Southwest cuisine, but usually I like to start with an ingredient and build into a dish, rather than the other way around.
Favorite dish right now?
That’s tough, because I am always trying new things, not getting hung up on the same dish for too long. One technique I have liked using recently is dehydrating herbs and fungi for spice rubs; you can get some great subtle flavors that way, compared to off-the-shelf spices. I’ve been making a chanterelle and rosemary-crusted filet mignon recently that I would say is my current favorite dish. I pair it with a garlic and parsley compound butter, which brings out the earthy notes of the chanterelle crust really nicely.
What ingredients can you not live without in your kitchen?
The onion family is crucial to so many dishes. Whether it’s onion, shallot, scallion, or garlic, the flavors of most meats and sauces can be accented perfectly with one of them. And fresh garlic is a must; it takes a bit of extra time to chop, but is markedly different than jarred garlic. Fresh citrus is another one of my staples. Acid balance is key to bringing out undertones, and if a dish leans too heavily towards fat/savory, it tends to finish flat. A squeeze of lime, lemon, blood orange, grapefruit, or pomelo serves to elevate and highlight other key flavors, and make the dish well-rounded. Other than that, Kosher salt and fresh-ground black pepper never leave my side.
How would you define your cooking style?
I try not to get too fancy to the point where it’s form over flavor; I haven’t been formally trained, so everything that I know about cooking has been shaped by what I think tastes good. I can appreciate experimentalist and modern styles, but ‘deconstructed’ or avant-garde platings have never appealed to me; I think something is lost when you can’t get the entire flavor profile of the dish in one bite. I certainly like dealing in complex flavors, but at the end of the day what I like to cook, and eat, is usually a high-quality piece of meat with a well-paired sauce and some fresh vegetables that accent the protein well. And a decadent dessert- I have a major sweet tooth. So, if I had to label my cooking style, I would say that it’s “elevated home-style cooking”.
