Chef Josiah Citrin visits Samo

Samo's cooking club was visited by an alum and hall-of-famer on Wednesday, Jan. 29.Josiah Citrin, the owner and executive chef of local French restaurant Mélisse, demonstrated cooking techniques and kitchen etiquette to the aspiring cooks, and culinary minds.Olivia Potash ('14), the president of the cooking club, invited Citrin to demonstrate cooking tips, and kitchen safety with the club via email, and got a response of confirmation from Citrin's assistant."I looked up his email on the Mélisse website and emailed him about the club," Potash said. "Then his assistant emailed me back saying he would be happy to come visit us."According to Citrin, after graduating from Samo, he traveled to Paris and studied French cooking for three years. Citrin then returned to Los Angeles in 1990, and worked at several restaurants local to Santa Monica such as Chinois, Patina and Capri. In 1996, He and his fellow chef Raphael Lunetta created JiRaffe restaurant, and in 1999, Citrin sold JiRaffe to Lunetta and opened the Mélisse restaurant on Wilshire Blvd.Citrin taught the cooking club and faculty members about kitchen etiquette, the skills required to be a good cook, the science of food and how to create new recipes. Even from curling your fingers underneath knife, Citrin demonstrated the most minor cooking strategies.“Cooking is really about all the small details being done properly.” Citrin said. “The great chef Fernand Point once said ‘Success is the sum of a lot of small things done correctly.’”Citrin explained to the students and teachers the importance of keeping a clean workstation, and being mindful of others in the kitchen. Citrin also stated that the correct use of knives is essential to creating a dish with balanced flavors and textures.“In cooking, making a great dish is all about creating textures and flavors, with different kinds of mouth-feels,” Citrin said. “Balance is really important, and the more balance you can create, the better.”Citrin said that creating good, new recipes requires experience, and knowledge of ingredients.“It gets easier with experience, like anything.”  “I always tell my young cooks to read every recipe through, so that the brain can store the information and help the cook figure out what to do.”Citrin also talked about food and cooking as a science, and how knowing a good amount about each subject can expand the skills of a chef.“The worlds of food and chemistry are now really coming together, and cooks are starting to understand why everything happens.” Citrin said. “The average cook today knows much more about the chemistry of food, than when I was learning.”The cooking club learned many cooking safety tips, as well as the importance of experience in the kitchen."We mostly gained an inspiration for cooking and making interesting and compelling dishes," Potash said. "But we also gathered how important having experience in the kitchen is to being a chef, or cook."osherman@thesamohi.com