He is that, a treasure. And he is not averse to trying something different from time to time. I read his book and learning about his career from helping his Mom at her restaurant, to feeding an old wood fired oven for the chef of a fine dining restaurant as a 13 year old, to becoming head of the Howard Johnson kitchen training team, to…
How many careers did this man have?
Plus he is simply a good, kind man. Gordon Ramsey should be forced to read Jacques’ book a time or two.
I kind of laugh seeing him making a basic lentil recipe using canned chicken. This guy will try anything once, and will probably do a pretty good job of making it a memorable meal.
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Add painter to his repertoire…
Ramsay’s an asshat whose name doesn’t belong in the same conversation.
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I use it instead of tuna in tuna casserole and like it. (Not a fan of canned tuna at all).
It’s also good in a creamy application, like chicken pot pie or chicken and dumplings, or when you have leftover broth but no chicken. I’ve used both Swanson and Costco brands. It’s certainly not free range, air chilled, fancy pants chicken, but it’s a decent pantry staple.
On his Instagram, there’s a segment called Budget Tuesdays where he shows how to repurpose leftovers, make lower cost meals, and sometimes use shortcuts. He spent a good part of his career at Howard Johnson’s and has joked (to Julia Child) that she knows more about fancy French food than he does.
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He could do worse. LOL! Jacques and Julia both seemed to be the real deal. Great cooks and possibly even greater people.
On the tuna issue, back in the 1980’s I used to eat solid Chicken of the Sea out of the can and wash it down with tall glasses of milk after playing basketball or lifting weights. It seemed rich but not oily or mushy and it was a really satisfying source of protein. Then in the 1990’s it seemed like all the big American tuna canners changed the way they prepare tuna and it got mushy and less appealing. I assumed it was a change in the canning process or the type of fish used but I don’t know for sure. I still eat it as a sandwich filling with mayo, a touch of mustard plus minced pickles and celery, but I definitely do not eat it out of the can any more. I do eat some of the Italian tunas out of the bottle, they seem to be using the old techniques that the regular American tuna canners used but put it in a glass bottle instead.
Canned chicken is similar to modern canned tuna, kind of bland and not that appealing but it is a quick and easy way to add protein to a meal so I usually had a can in the cupboard.
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Not sure either but I know what you mean about it having changed. Back when I cared about my appearance and worked out a lot I ate lots of tuna. I like the bagged (foil packet) stuff a lot better than canned now.
When Starkist first introduced the bagged to the US market ~ 20+ years ago (?) a friend who was a marketing director for Heinz had about 25 of us who were at their house for their annual monster games night blind taste test the Starkist regular canned against the bagged. Once everyone had tried it she announced that all preferred the bagged.
To OP’s (@midlife’s) question about the canned chicken, I’ve only used it myself a couple of times when following recipes out of old Midwestern church cookbooks. It was fine in the casseroles, I guess, but I didn’t care much for it straight up. I do buy a lot of it at Aldi for foodbank shopping because they always have “canned meats” as a priority need, so I get the chicken, salmon, tuna, spam, corned beef etc. in cans. It’s amazing how calorie and protein dense you can get on the cheap at Aldi.
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I’ve used it in a pinch, generally in things like chicken salad or chicken noodle soup. It’s no worse than canned tuna (compared to fresh tuna). I’m talking the breast meat canned in broth, Costco brand. I can’t vouch for a different type of product.
I have no problem with canned tuna, but no Starkist for this food snob. And I only buy it packed in oil. Quality canned tomatoes (or boxed, if I can piggyback those in to this discussion) come to mind, too. Having said that, canned chicken seems wrong, somehow.
Good quality canned tuna is widely available in Europe, and scarce in USA outside specialty and “gourmet” stores. At least that’s my experience, and theory for why so many Americans can’t abide canned tuna.
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I always have Costco canned chicken on my pantry shelves. It’s great emergency food, is excellent for quick soups, and I REALLY like it in chicken salad with red grapes, Mayo, celery, toasted pecans, and green onions
with some fresh or dried tarragon. Tasty. Costco’s Kirkland Signature is nice quality, big white chunks. Have also used it in quick chicken enchiladas in a pinch.
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How many Americans can’t abide canned tuna?
I’d speculate that canned is most folks main interaction with tuna.
Certainly not a (fresh) fish I ever saw in the middle of the country.
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This leads me to another question - are canned tuna and fresh tuna really comparable? I like and use both, but I would never sub one for the other (maybe because I would not likely cook raw tuna to the well-done state of canned).
As for canned chicken, I ate a lot of it in college as a quick and easy protein source, mostly turned into chicken salad. Probably not since then, though. I haven’t tried the Kirkland brand - maybe I’ll pick some up next time I hit Costco.
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I’m being inarticulate. Let me put it a different way: far more Americans detest canned tuna than do Europeans. Good canned tuna can be very good indeed (often being better than the fresh or frozen reaching the hinterlands). The problem is there is a dearth of good canned tuna in USA.
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Not to me. But neither is fresh, cooked tuna comparable to fresh uncooked. Heat denatures tuna more than many foods. A tuna left to fight too long on a line or not bled and iced as soon as it’s landed will “cook” itself and be downgraded.
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Go, Jacques! i have always maintained that the best chef is not the one who works with the finest ingredients but the one who can turn mediocre ingredients into a stellar meal.
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My grandparents canned all sorts of meat, to be used in stews later. It’s still being done in parts of rural Canada, especially in parts where a lot of hunting takes place.
I’ve used Kirkland Canned chicken in some casseroles and salads. Only bought it once, and used up what we bought. It was fine for what it is. I don’t have a Costco membership anymore.
No, they aren’t. I agree. My point was only if one eats both, for tuna, why is there doubt/concern about eating both, for chicken. Sometimes time or energy is short, and convenience foods are there for the save.
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Not sure, just that in the case of fresh chicken, you’re ALWAYS going to cook it fully, as opposed to fresh tuna where you might not (or even probably won’t) cook it fully. That’s probably an argument in favor of eating canned chicken, but for some reason it makes the two canned products not comparable in my mind. I fully understand how crazy that sounds, btw!
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It’s the same syndrome as the weekend hackers who think a new racquet or set of clubs is going to give them more game. We’d expect that the average college first singles player using Mom’s decades-neglected racquet would likely shred that equipment-obsessed recreational player.
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And chefs say the inverse all the time - if you have great ingredients, do as little to them as possible. And while I might agree, the only “chefly” skill I see there is the ability to curb one’s instinct to DO things to the ingredient. Whereas someone who can take something humble and turn it into something astounding has exhibited some real talent.
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I guess I just take issue with this whole statement. I don’t think I’m in the minority either. While I strongly prefer albacore to chunk light, or whatever they call it, I will happily eat tuna salad, nicoise salad, tuna melts, tuna noodle casserole, made with canned tuna. I never eat those and think to myself, if only we had that good European canned tuna. I’m just content with it, and it doesn’t taste inadequate to me. Oh, and while I’m throwing in my lot with the plebes, I’m also perfectly content with tuna in water. I don’t need it in oil.
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