Daniel Boulud Entertains With Jambonneau At The Daily Meal

The Daily Meal was proud to host yet another Celebrity Chef Series event in its test kitchen this past Wednesday evening, featuring none other than the world-renowned French chef and restaurateur, Daniel Boulud.

Daniel Boulud Entertains with Jambonneau at The Daily Meal (Slideshow)

Colman Andrews, Editor-in-Chief of The Daily Meal and friend of Boulud, introduced him to guests as one of the French chefs who really "brings something fresh and new."

"We've all at some point gotten to know his food and have followed his restaurants," said Andrews. "We've come to see that the great thing about him is that not only did he establish that he can cook this incredibly sophisticated, wonderful, refined French food, but then he showed us he could make a great hamburger too!"

This really brings forth the true reason for why Boulud stands out as such a versatile chef in his category. He has always been and still remains eager to learn from other cultures and incorporate different types of food into his restaurant styles, themes, and dishes.

"I always stayed quite French despite the temptation in New York to get out of the French style and try others," said Boulud.

Boulud brought the crew from one of his most notable and personal favorite New York restaurants, DBGB.

"DBGB is quite special to me," Boulud said. "I love DBGB because I wanted to do a restaurant where it would be the most casual restaurant I could do."

Guests laughed as he explained that DBGB was right next door to Katz Delicatessen, a more than famous location in New York, and that naturally they "like to put pastrami on a few things" for this reason. Clearly, it makes for a nice relationship and sharing of customer satisfaction between the two establishments.

Boulud and his staff went on to impress guests with a demonstration on preparing one of his feature dishes, Rillettes de Jambonneau Provençal, also known as pulled ham hock. The meat was prepared with olive oil, eggplant, tomato, zucchini, and basil — which he explained really helped to tone down the saltiness of the ham, while consequently adding strong flavor.

"I am always inspired by who I cook for, and sometimes even just who I meet," Boulud said. 

Many of Boulud's dishes have been formulated through this passion of embracing different cultures. He told guests a story of how one of at least a dozen different sausage dishes featured at DBGB came about just by initiating a conversation with a woman from Thailand who later gave him an old family recipe which helped inspire him to create a flavorful Thai sausage at DBGB.

"My idea at DBGB was to go around the world with sausage," Boulud said, as he explained it was a universally delicious meat.

As the owner of 13 restaurants around the world, Boulud has seen many come in to his kitchen to learn and develop at their craft before eventually setting off to create their very own notable reputations in the culinary world.

When asked if he still keeps in touch with these people, Boulud replied, "I see them all over the country often and it always makes us proud to see the kid who was sous chef become a chef and make the list."

Not only is The Daily Meal thrilled to include Daniel Boulud in its Celebrity Chef Series, but we are excited to have him become a part of a new chef network called The Daily Meal's Culinary Council. This will consist of a group of people from all around the country with distinguished areas of expertise in the culinary arts. Boulud will be featured alongside other prominent chefs such as Mario Batali, Lydia Bastianach, Alice Waters, and more!