Le Pily: Secrets of a Michelin-starred chef

My very first “proper” job was working for the venerable French institution, Michelin Tyres. 

There was very little about the company that I didn’t like; from the industrial splendour of its headquarters in Stoke-on-Trent, England, to the brilliant workers club and canteen (the fish and chips deserve special mention), to the warmth and pride of the staff, from the shop floor to the boardroom.

It was a very happy time. 

One of the best parts of the job was working for the then head of the UK Michelin guide.  It was fascinating to discover how the restaurant inspectors went about their work, and as a foodie, I’m still very influenced by the guide and its recommendations. 

So when I saw that our local Michelin starred restaurant, Le Pily, in Cherbourg, was offering cookery demonstrations (with lunch included!), I jumped at the chance to see a professional chef in action. 

And so it was that six of us were clustered into the Pily’s tiny kitchen on a blustery January morning, with the tail end of storm Eleanor howling outside, to see Chef Pierre Marion in action, and hopefully pick up some tips (and enjoy a five course lunch afterwards, naturellement).

The kitchen of a Michelin-starred chef, it must be said, is immaculately clean.  Like an operating theatre, and with every imaginable tool needed for cooking.

At as for Chef Marion himself – large, avuncular, and not above dishing the dirt on his fellow chefs, in the nicest way possible.

Here are just a few of the top tips I picked up from Chef Marion, and that I heartily recommend to you:  

• Great cooking is as much about careful selection of great ingredients, and treating them with reverence, as it is about fancy techniques.
• Vegetables and fruits taste better if they’ve had to “struggle for survival” – that is, if they’ve not been too cossetted by artificial fertilisers and the like, or given too much water (in the case of tomatoes).  It makes them “strong” and therefore tasty.

These carrots have suffered

• Contrary to popular belief, flat fish like turbot, brill and plaice are best eaten a few days after catching, and indeed if kept properly can be eaten up to a week after they’ve been caught.
• Round fish, like bass and trout on the other hand, are best eaten fresh.

Patted down with Japanese rice vinegar which has a gentle taste, these fillets will last a week in your fridge

• There’s a disgusting green worm that eats into the organs of fish and then into their flesh and does the same to humans if you ingest one and…… (urghhh)…
•  …but still, it’s really best not to freeze fish as it makes the flesh tough even if it does kill said worms.
• You should never boil a soup, but rather warm it through from cold, giving the vegetables and herbs time to “infuse”.  Boiling makes some ingredients (eg herbs) change composition and gives a sauce or soup a bitter taste.
• The Pily is one of the best restaurants I’ve ever eaten in, and if you’re in the Cotentin, it’s really worth the trip.

Lunch at Le Pily

I’m still a massive fan of Michelin, both the tyres and the guide.  I’ll never have any other tyres on my car – after all, your tyre is the only part of your car in contact with the road.

And I do believe that an endorsement from Michelin is the best indication of quality cooking there is.

After all, as chef Marion commented during our visit, “if any chef tells you he doesn’t want a Michelin star, then he’s lying”.