Hudson’s early years. The early chefs
In the 32 years we were open, Hudson’s was always a springboard for aspiring chefs and we saw so many of them venture out and open their own restaurant with the hands-on experience they acquired in our kitchen.
It was later in Hudson’s life that we were able to have apprentices from the Culinary Institute of America (CIA), not to be mistaken for CIA in Langley, Virginia.
Once while visiting New York, we had dinner at Per Se Restaurant and at the end of our meal we were given a full kitchen tour. As we entered the kitchen, I noticed that there was an assembly line of chefs, eight crisp white chef coats carefully putting the final touches on each and every plate before the dish left the kitchen, i.e. a final wipe, a flower garnish, a squeeze of lemon or a sprinkle of sea salt. Then a parade of waiters would pick up the plates – no trays – with each waiter carrying no more than 2 plates per waiter. How could they afford so many cooks, eight cooks simply to garnish? It was years later that I discovered their secret as it was told to me by a Per Se cook that the entire assembly line of staff performing the final touches on the plates were all apprentices from the CIA and these apprentices were not only not on the payroll, but even better, they paid the restaurant $1000.00 per month for the privilege of the job and the honor of putting Per Se on their resume. No wonder Per Se could afford such a heavily populated kitchen. And there I was, so proud of myself, I thought we were getting such a great deal on labor by paying minimum wage to all of our apprentices.
Not just any restaurant can get CIA apprentices, here is how it works. A student at the CIA initially does their classroom study at the Institute and upon completion of this portion, they then seek an internship for practical application of the book learning in a CIA approved restaurant. To be on the list of approved restaurants first and foremost the restaurant needs to have a chef that graduated from the CIA and the restaurant chef must agree to do a monthly report and evaluation of the student to the supervisor at CIA. It is on the student’s shoulders to reach out to restaurants on the approved list and find a restaurant that is interested in having an apprentice. The great benefit of sponsoring these young uns in your restaurant is that you get a very productive, eager and professional employee at minimum wage. We timed it so that as one student completed their internship, we had another student rolling in the kitchen door on their heels so that 90% of the time we had an apprentice on the payroll. We had several employees that did their internship at Hudson’s return to us after their graduation from CIA and become sous chefs and cooks on our full-time kitchen staff. I knew that Hudson’s had an “in” at the CIA when they published their new textbook and our “Hot & Crunchy” recipe was printed in the textbook.
Stage (pronounced “staj”) is a German word that means to follow or shadow and we had tons of cooks who wanted to do a brief period of stage in our kitchen. There were a lot of highly successful people out in the work force that had a passion for cooking to the point that they had a romantic idea of changing careers and becoming a creative chef in a restaurant, wouldn’t that be a fun job? Jay Moore, who was one of our best chefs for many years had more than a few burned out engineers come and shadow him. He would always be sure to explain that there would be years of backbreaking work with very low pay along with mountains of veggies to clean before they earned and learned the skill to be a creative chef in a restaurant kitchen, he made it crystal clear so that want to-be chefs didn’t get a false picture of the glory and glamour in that white coat.
A restaurant needs to survive, shine and grow in the early years and when the owner/chef (me) keeps disappearing for 30-day trips to rehab the odds of surviving are very low. Somehow Hudson’s not only survived but it thrived and I am ever grateful to the chefs of this period of my life for keeping the fires lit while I was cleaning up my act. The chefs in the early days of Hudson’s were not classically trained, but pure in heart; Jeff Courington, Hal Sapadin, Steve Warren and John Cheatam all played an important role in Hudson’s early years.
Hudson’s had its share of undocumented cooks from south of the border that were invaluable in the kitchen. We also had a group of restaurant employees migrate from Germany via Gert Rausch to work in the kitchen and the front of the house, they all added an international flare to the restaurant. Gert’s influences were all very important to Hudson’s, to say the least! Thirty-five years ago, Harald Katzenberger, Reiner Schmitt and Fredrick Bauer came over from Germany on a tourist visa but fudged a bit and actually came to work and over stayed their welcomed and approved timeframe. They had friends from Germany come to Austin, Texas, USA to visit. Harald, Freddy and Reiner wanted to show their friends some of America while they were here so, they headed out on a road trip to the Grand Canyon and Las Vegas. Their American tour ended quickly when they drove through the immigration checkpoint just before you enter El Paso and their expired visas were discovered. I got a phone call from them asking for money because Immigrations had put them in jail and were not going to release them until they could purchase airplane tickets for their return to Germany. Just like that they were gone from our lives! It is important to note that this occurred nearly forty years ago when labor laws were relaxed and oh so much different.
The state food of Texas has to be a bowl of red, aka chili. On a winter day nothing sounds better or tastes better than a bowl of chili. You can serve it as a first course or a main meal. There are chili cooking contests across Texas. Most are more about the extracurricular activities than about the chili. I have judged many, so I am somewhat of an authority. The thing that happens at all contests is after the winner is announced all the other chili cooks taste the winner’s chili and try to discern the ingredients that made them stand out and win. Funny thing, after several contests everyone’s chili tastes very similar.
There are several rules about Texas chili, you never add beans or use ground meat. Most chili cooks use beef cubes, but I really like to use a variety of meats. Feel free to use a freezer clearing method. The recipe below uses venison and wild boar, but beef is a great substitute. When using duck or quail or any fowl combine it with a red meat for a full rounded flavor. Smoking the meat prior to making the chili adds a tasty flavor.
Two ingredients that make your chili 🌶 award winning is ancho peppers and a rich stock. Instead of chili powder use whole ancho peppers. Soak them in quality stock then transfer the softened peppers and the liquid to a blender and purée until smooth. Use a high quality, rich stock for more flavor, no water.
Some ingredients listed below are on the “black list” from professional chili cooks, i.e. tomatoes, celery and bacon, but they help produce a big round flavor.
The recipe below has won several chili cook offs. Feel free to make it your own. Just add or change three ingredients and then it’s yours. This chili takes more time, but it will get rave reviews, isn’t that what it’s all about.
Toppings depend how crazy you want to get. Sour cream, yogurt and grated cheese are simple and tasty. Elaborate salsas are a fun topping and a great way to make the recipe yours.
Ingredients
8 ancho peppers, seeds and stems removed
½ lbs. bacon, chopped
2 lbs. meat, cubed. Any combination. I like venison and boar.
6 cups white onions ¼” dice
½ cup minced garlic
4 ribs of celery ¼” dice
2 cups Roma tomatoes ¼” dice
3 cups high quality stock
1 lemon juiced and zested
2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
3 tablespoons cumin (best to toast cumin seeds and grind)
¼ cup ancho chili powder
2 tablespoons sea salt
2 teaspoons cayenne pepper, a great substitute for cayenne is jalapeños or Serrano peppers, add until desired heat is reached
Method
8 ancho peppers, seeds and stems removed, soaked in rich stock and puréed until smooth in a blender.
Cook the chopped bacon and reserve the drippings.
Using a heavy bottomed pan on high heat, brown the meat in small batches with 3 tablespoons of bacon drippings. Remember brown crust on the meat means flavor. Grey meat is the equivalent of stewed meat, avoid avoid avoid. After the meat has browned set it aside for later use.
In a large heavy bottomed pot add 3 tablespoon of bacon drippings.
Sauté onions, celery, tomatoes, garlic, lemon zest and juice, sea salt, cumin, cayenne or peppers, sugar and chili powder.
Cook until onion is soft and translucent.
Add the meat, ancho pepper purée and stock.
Simmer on medium heat until everything is blended and hot.
Top with your favorite topping.
It will store in your refrigerator for 2 weeks. It freezes great.