Hello food fam . This is the Walk-In Talk Podcast where you will find the perfect blend of food fun and cooking knowledge . I'm Carl Fiadini your host , . Welcome to the number one food podcast in the country . We're recording on site at Ibis Images Studios , where food photography comes alive and I get to eat it . Chefs and food buyers .
Try Aussie Select's fully cooked , pasture-raised Australian lamb . Enjoy flavors like agave , rosemary , tikka masala and more , available sliced or whole . Discover more at aussieselectcom . This week we have the talented chef Lance Nitahara joining us and , trust me , you won't want to miss this . He hails from the stunning shores of Oahu , hawaii .
Chef Lance has a culinary journey that spans across the globe . He's taken his roots from the islands , blending them with rich culinary traditions learned at the Culinary Institute of America . That's the CIA baby . It's fascinating how he navigates the world of flavors and today he's here to share that experience with us . But that's not all . But wait , there's more .
Chef Lance isn't just an incredible chef . He's also an educator , shaping the next generation of culinary talent . He's been recognized for his outstanding contributions to culinary competitions , coaching students to national victories With his unique perspective as an instructor and competitor .
He'll well , we're going to dive deep into that , and what that means is he's going to bring the Big Island flavors to a global audience . That's basically what it means . I tell you what today , in-house , we have the Pooch Rivera , hello , hello . Yes , my man , how you know like it's .
I mean , this was whirlwind , you know , came in late last night , as it always is .
Yeah , You're here While the French Quarter burns as we speak . Guys , there's a big fire in the French Quarter , so shout out to everybody in New Orleans and that whole culinary scene down there . It's kind of crazy .
Yeah Well so , everybody , if you don't know Chef Pooch , he's from Louisiana , from New Orleans , and yeah , you just got word over there on the the Royal Sinesta Hotel , which is right across the street from Restaurant Revolution . Yeah , it's just kind of crazy .
That's a big property , that's a big deal .
With the Super Bowl and such coming , so it's kind of crazy .
All right . So today you made some really , really pretty dishes . Let's talk about it Go .
Well , we use Aussie Select , which is a proud sponsor of ours , and I was always wondering how I could do something with Aussie Select , being that you know it is a cured meat .
So we decided we were going to do play on a Reuben we did kind of an Asian flair Reuben in honor of Chef Lance coming on the show and so we did a little ginger marinade , inix law and carrots . We se a little ginger marinade in ixlaw and carrots .
We seared off the the lamb which was it was a prime rib , it's lamb prime rib which was kind of unique to use . Never really thought of using that as a prime rib , but it was really cool seared that off with , obviously with the help of john , we plated that up and made it look beautiful I can't do anything without john these days , guys .
That's the truth and it was delicious . So we did that . And then we transitioned into fajitas . So so we know we've been saying we need to do fajitas so many times and we never really figure out how to do it and I was like let's use the Aussie Select and let's use the prime rib to see how that worked out beautifully .
You know , I was a little worried that we wouldn't get a lot of that flavor , of the Mexican flavor , in there and it really transitioned in well . It tasted so good with all the roasted vegetables , all the above .
But Aussie Select , guys , is something that any it's your chef's best friend , you know it cuts out a lot of corners and a lot of you know back in the day you wouldn't want to buy something that was already pre-cooked or pre-made . These they're made for chefs , so it's out there . It's the best product you can buy and reasonably priced $12 to $15 a .
that would have stayed , guys I know that jack jacklin's gonna be super , super happy . All right , without further ado . I mean . By the way , listen , beautiful , beautiful stuff you made today tastes good too . Johnny , you gotta give all the credit to the food stylist . Johnny , I mean seriously , come on all right , without further ado . Chef lance , how are you ?
sir , I'm doing . Great thanks for having me on .
I am so excited about meeting you in person the US Culinary Open in February over at the NAFM show in Atlanta . Me too , I want to start with your prodigy , because we had a phone call the other day , a fairly long call , about an hour , and you were really hyped up on this kid . Talk about him .
His name is Sechan Park . He hails from South Korea . He's a student at the CIA , where I teach , and he was never my student . However , he was my competitor that I coached for this past year's SkillsUSA competition that was held also in Atlanta and the same convention center we're doing the US Culinary Open at . I mean , this kid is amazing .
The reason why I chose him to be my assistant was his mindset is just so focused and driven when it comes to culinary competition . He's a machine . He really is . He's got a lot of experience already . He represented South Korea in WorldSkills the WorldSkills competition , international competition beautiful food coming from this kid .
He you know , I say kid , he's 19 years old and he is just amazing . When we work , when we work together and we practice together , he's he's literally cooking circles around me . I am the privileged one to have him at my side .
That kind of leads into this competition . You're up against some heavy hitters , beard Chefs and Michelin Chefs and Food Network winners and whatnot . How does having the right sous chef , in this case your assistant how does that fare for you with your nerves going into this competition ?
I've been thinking about that for a while . With Seitan , having him as my assistant for me , I can sleep better at night because I know that I have , you know , one of the best young people out there young chefs out to help me with this . It's kind of like when I was in culinary school , I was actually the assistant for the certified master chef exam .
I feel like , you know , I gave it the best go that I could give , although I was not nearly as talented as Sechan is , but I feel better having him on my side During practice . He's saved our food more times than I have . My confidence level has increased by , you know , 20 fold having him as my , as my assistant .
But looking at the competition I know , on on the , on the website we can , we can see who our competitors are and I kind of , you know , sort of looked into their backgrounds and looked at them . It would make anyone nervous , obviously , because there's a .
You know there are people that I'm competing against that you know I I could only dream to have the kind of experiences that they've had , the kind of chops that they have . So for me , the more I look at it , the more I guess nervous I could get and the more uneasy I could get and the more you know pressure that builds upon me .
So I've decided to go the other route and just not really worry about that at all , if that makes any sense .
It makes a lot of sense and I know that because of your culinary background from where you're from in Hawaii , that's probably going to find its way into what you're doing there . Are you able to talk about that a little bit ?
The theme of my menu really is the flavors of my childhood , or at least the flavors of Hawaii , sort of encapsulated into three modern takes on , not necessarily singular Hawaiian dishes , but preparations , Hawaiian preparations utilizing some Hawaiian ingredients that we've , we're going to be able to procure and bring to the competition ourselves , but also techniques .
So when I do taste these flavors it does bring me back to my , to the flavors that I remember in my childhood for the record , uh , listeners who have not been to hawaii yet in their lives when you get off the plane there and chef , we talked about this the other day once you , when you get off the plane , the first thing it's a small airport , it's outside
. You step off and the first thing you realize everything smells like flowers . It's just , it's it's in the air and it's amazing because you've you , you realize that it's paradise and you're in it and it's beautiful . And if you can capture just that and and and have that in your in your dish , chef , I feel like that is going to . I mean , it's a winner .
I'm just saying yeah .
I think , well , one of the things that I'd like to do is capture some of that terroir , and the only way that we're going to capture some of that terroir , or at least the nuances of the environment , the effects of the environment on the ingredients of Hawaii , is to get some actual ingredients from Hawaii to be able to use in the competition itself , which I
am , you know , hopefully going to be able to do . There are a number of ingredients that the Department of Agriculture in Hawaii has actually deemed impossible or illegal to take out of Hawaii and ship over , but I'm looking for ways to sort of get around that . What are some of those items ?
So , things like Hawaiian lehua taro , so like real , actual taro that the Hawaiian taro used for making poi and other things like hulolo and other taro preparations Without actually Department of Ag inspection and certification , you can't ship them out nor take them out of Hawaii .
Is that because they touched down in california first ?
I . I don't exactly know why the that rule is in place . I have a feeling that it's because they want to keep those crops exclusive to hawaii and they don't want people propagating them outside of hawaii . Partly that . And then also invasive species , so maybe some pests you know pest transfer in between hawaii and the mainland .
So so I'm looking to sort of get around that with certain ingredients . I think I may be able to talk to the the authorities there once I because I am going for a business visit in a in a couple , in a few weeks , so that I'll be able to maybe possibly get something going .
What was the culture shock ? To go from small town Hawaii to the CIA ?
I think the biggest culture shock was was the weather In Hawaii . It's one season , you got one season , all year round Coldest . Coldest it gets is maybe low 60s , high 50s in some places . So you know , coming here right now , you know it's , you know in the low 40s , and so you know that that took a little bit of getting used to .
Although I do enjoy winter , you know I do I just don't like shoveling my driveway after , after a longer winter nobody likes it .
Yeah , yeah chef , how would you describe how you you apply your mentoring , your teaching philosophy to culinary competition ?
I do coach , when I , when I do coach culinary competition , one of the things that we focus on is the method of , of practice , and so when I talk , talk about best methods of practice , we want to practice exactly the way that we're going to compete right ?
So I mean , I guess the term is , you know , when they say practice makes perfect , really perfect , practice makes perfect . And so you know , cutting corners when it comes to practicing with my competitors really doesn't get us anywhere , because all it does is handicap us in the end .
So what we do is we want to set ourselves up , set up the kitchen , as close to competition as possible , and our timeframes are exactly , you know , the same timeframes that we're going to be competing in .
I get it , I , you know , we , we , we try to get it down to the absolute minute detail , which is why Nick and Polly Barrington at the US County Open I think they're they're , they're sick of my emails already , because I've been , you know , I email them probably three or four times a week with all these little tiny minutia , details .
But this is , this is how you know , this is how we roll when it comes to practice , so that we are absolutely ready and that you know we can plan for contingencies and we can plan for things that can go wrong . If anything can go wrong , we will plan for it to happen .
You know , to the point where you know we've got little mini first aid kits in our pocket , you know if we would cut ourselves so we can , you know , take care of it right , then and there , instead of searching for a first aid kit .
If anyone missed it , the secret is preparing , but preparing perfectly , and you're putting a lot of time into this . How often are you and your assistant actually practicing ?
So we have been practicing once a week for the past , I believe almost three months . Now two or three months and so and those are five to five to six hour practices . We're going to transition to twice a week after this , after the break .
Yeah , yeah , that's serious and and I think it's really , it's funny , but great that you're stalking the competition , by the way , just well no , your competition .
But that's serious you're , you're a competitor .
Man , you're a competitor man , I appreciate it .
Yeah , yeah , no . So I I've I've had to sort of , you know , pull back from that because again it it does play with my mind for a little bit , but I think it's more important when you're a competitor , what's more important is to stop the judges to know what the judges are like . You know what kind of culinary world are they coming out of .
And you know three of the four judges are all they're CMCs .
They're master chefs . Like that's got to be more pressure than the competitors .
Sure , absolutely . And I've worked with and , being at the CIA , I've worked with a bunch of master chefs . They're people too , but when it comes to competition they're a different breed .
Are you trying to say that they bleed ? Come on man , they don't .
What I've found from certified master chefs is that they like to stand on the traditions , and so that sometimes , in my opinion , from a culinary world , makes it a little bit easier , because you can kind of go traditional and use traditional sauces , traditional things that they would pick up on , but at the end of the day , look , this is a big deal , it's the
first one . It's the big deal , it's the first one . So I mean , I think that everyone's coming correct , whether it be the competitors to the judges , to the whole city . The whole culinary scene in Atlanta is ready for this , which is pretty cool .
I think it's going to have a lot of fanfare behind it and a lot of people there to cheer you on , cheer everyone else on and really make this a big event . I think what's fascinating is how , chef , how you're balancing traditional methods and modern techniques between French and Hawaiian cuisines .
I think that is a story in and of itself , because you've figured out a way to implement , you know , some Hawaiian culinary into your program .
Yes , so the Hawaiian class that I teach it has a mix of both traditional Hawaiian foods and , I guess , local Hawaiian , modern , local Hawaiian foods , which really are an amalgam of all the different cultures that have sort of found their way to Hawaii , and Hawaii really is truly a melting pot , right ? So you have these two different eras .
You have the ancient Hawaiian era , which you know . They came over on canoes and they basically brought over , you know , a handful of crops and you know , and pigs and chickens , and really that's really what they had , besides the coconuts and fish that were already on the island .
So that was , that's your ancient Hawaiian cuisine , which is very simple , very just , straightforward , simple cuisine , not too many cooking techniques .
But then , you know , then you fast forward to later with all these cultures coming to Hawaii and you have , you know , immigrants from all over the world coming and bringing their cultures in and all of a sudden , local Hawaiian cuisine is something totally different in , and all of a sudden , local Hawaiian cuisine is something totally different .
But the ingredients that grow in Hawaii I mean , there are a vast amount of ingredients , but the real locally sourced ingredients that and many of them are canoe crops from ancient Hawaii do work well with a modern , even French , technique . So we try to put some of that in there .
But in my menu for the US Culinary Open I have , you know , preparations like I'm using breadfruit and I'm taking breadfruit and making a gratin or a dauphinois with it , and so breadfruit works very similarly to potatoes , and so potato dau dolphin , raw , obviously is a classic French technique , but it works beautifully with breakfast .
I did a one-year apprenticeship , acf , back in the day 94 . And I was always told and I had ambitions to go to CIA or do the Disney program and it was kind of coerced into going into the ACF program and doing a one-year apprenticeship , which I very much appreciate . Now , what are the biggest challenges that culinary students face these days ?
I think that when it comes to doing an apprenticeship , versus getting a degree in an accredited program like the CIA , because there are others out there . I think the main difference is the understanding of possibly food science and what's going on on a molecular or scientific level when it comes to your food .
That , to me , that's , in my opinion , I think , the biggest advantage of having a degree , or at least a degree from the CIA and coming into my class , because I employ a lot of food science in there .
But then beyond that , you know you now also have , I guess , a career ceiling , if that makes any sense , where you know you can start off at a certain after you graduate from the CIA or from other culinary schools .
You can start off at a certain , I guess , level in the kitchen , where we talk about being either a , you know chef de partie or chef de cuisine , instead of starting off in prep and work your way up from there .
Or you also can , you know , branch off to these other you know , these other facets of the food service industry , or really food or the gastronomy industry in general research and development , food systems , even institutional cuisine . I think that the way that things are going now , like especially with the CIA .
We're considered the I guess the term now is the world's premier food college , and so we're looking at degree , or looking at the CIA , more as a college or university type of education rather than just a culinary school these days .
So we have , you know , five different , you know , culinary majors now , and we just started a master's program at the CIA , whereas before , you know , you could get an associate's degree and then , you know , when I graduated , there was one bachelor's degree available and I got that bachelor's degree in culinary management .
Now , you know , we have food science , we've got , you know , food systems and a number of other , even specializations . The apprenticeships , though , although I do also and I'm also an advocate of apprenticeships and even vocational school programs , simply because there are some people who are not necessarily cut out for an academic-based culinary school .
Going into those programs , you know , you get real-world experience , dirt under your nails and elbow grease , dirt under your nails and elbow grease and it's something that's an invaluable thing for young people to really , you know , form their chops before they , you know , before they get out there and really , you know , start their careers .
So I think that I think both have their pros and cons .
And it really is an interesting topic . I feel like maybe after the show into 25 chef , we can have you back on for a longer session and get into this a little bit further , cause I do want to get in . We don't have time today , but I want to get into your a little bit of your actual history in the kitchen . But let's , let's .
Let's say that we're going to catch up at NAFM , and you know we're going to catch up at NAFM , yeah , and you know we're going to have the whole crew there , video , the podcast , the whole nine yards , so we'll get into it .
How do people find you on the socials ? So that's funny because I've kind of stayed off of the social media . I'm kind of a ghost out there . I do have a LinkedIn account , but that's pretty much it . You can find me on the CIA website . I do have my email address there , but that's about it . I try to stay off of social media as much as possible .
I can't blame you for that . In many instances . All right , chef Lance Nidahara . You can find him on LinkedIn and I really appreciate you coming on the show today , chef . Happy holidays , chef Poo . I really appreciate you coming on the show today , chef . Happy holidays , chef Pooch . Appreciate you coming in . Thank you , sir . Glad you came in for this .
John , as always , you're , you're amazing . Check out that Aussie select guys . We appreciate you . Thank you , we are out . We'll see you next time .