European Vocation : A German Chef Produces a Scallop Salad Aimed at American Tastes

It’s dawn at the J. Chino family farm in Rancho Santa Fe, and dew sparkles on the heaping rows of freshly harvested vegetables. Martin Woesle, a daily customer, carefully selects the pick of the crop, deciding what he will cook that day at Mille Fleurs restaurant, a short distance away.

Before taking over the kitchen at Mille Fleurs, a charming restaurant owned by Bertrand Hug, Woesle served a long apprenticeship. He began his training at the age of 17 at the St. Leonharb, a small hotel near his home in Southwest Germany; several years later he advanced to Auberge, a three-star Michelin restaurant in Munich, where he worked under the brilliant chef Eckart Witzigmann.

It was Witzigmann who encouraged Woesle to go to a chef’s school to learn the management skills that would serve him well in his culinary career. From there, Woesle traveled to the United States at the request of a German couple who had opened a hotel in Escondido. He later worked as a pastry chef at Ma Maison until he heard of an opening at Mille Fleurs.

Woesle’s cooking is French-Continental, influenced not only by the exacting standards of Witzigmann’s cuisine but also by Woesle’s mother’s wonderful country cooking--exemplified by the homemade spaetzle , dumplings and sausages that often appear on Mille Fleurs’ menus.

His cooking is a relaxed version of cuisine moderne , a style of food preparation that demands the freshest and finest ingredients and the lightest of sauces. It’s European cooking with its mind--and heart--aimed toward American taste.

“At first I was shocked when customers asked for mint jelly and catsup for their oysters,” Woesle says. “I serve oysters with nothing but creme fraiche or caviar. Now my customers appreciate my lighter style of cooking and presentation.”

He thickens sauces by slowly reducing wine and stock, not by adding flour. And his stocks are created to complement precisely the meat or the fish with which they appear. “I prepare five different stocks, including a venison stock,” he says.

And Woesle was one of the first chefs to use edible flowers--also grown on the J. Chino farm--for flavor and decoration.

His recipe for warm Sea Scallop Salad exemplifies the simplicity and the balance of flavors, textures and colors that mark the work of a seasoned chef. The flowers are here, too, in the form of nasturtiums (although any seasonal edible flowers can be used). And so is the perfectly balanced shallot dressing, made with virgin olive oil and peanut oil, both of which provide high flavor to the salad.

With this main-dish salad you’ll need only French bread--for sopping up the dressing--and a good red or white wine.

SEA SCALLOP SALAD WITH ARTICHOKES, LEEKS AND TOMATOES

1 head lettuce

1 bunch red radishes

2 small leeks

2 large tomatoes

6 fresh artichoke bottoms

1 head radicchio

30 sea scallops (about 2 to 2 1/2 pounds)

Olive oil

Salt, pepper

Shallot Dressing

Fresh chervil and dill sprigs

6 yellow nasturtium flowers

Wash lettuce, radishes, leeks and tomatoes in cold water. Trim dark ends of leeks and cook leeks in boiling salted water 2 minutes. Remove and cool in refrigerator (do not discard water). Blanch tomatoes in same boiling water for 10 seconds and add to ice water to cool. Peel. Cut each tomato into 6 sections and remove seeds. Blanch artichoke bottoms and add to ice water. Slice into 5 pieces each. Slice radishes very thin.

Arrange radicchio and lettuce leaves on each of 6 large cold plates. Slice leeks into 1/2-inch pieces and arrange on top of lettuce, with artichoke slices, tomato wedges and sliced radishes around lettuce.

In hot skillet, saute scallops in olive oil until golden brown outside, about 1 minute. Season to taste with salt and freshly ground pepper. Place warm scallops on salad. Mix Shallot Dressing and spoon onto salad. Garnish each salad in center with chervil, dill, and nasturtium flowers. Makes 6 servings.

Shallot Dressing

2 shallots, chopped

1 clove garlic, minced

Juice of 1/2 lemon

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

3 tablespoons peanut oil

Salt, freshly ground white pepper

Combine shallots, garlic, lemon juice, olive and peanut oils and season to taste with salt and pepper. Mix well. Makes about 1/2 cup.

Produced by Robin Tucker Food Stylist: Norman Stewart Tableware From David Orgell, Beverly Hills Linens From Pratesi, Beverly Hills