Corey Siegel

The FIRST Siegel’s Sandwich Co. Pop-up at Sweet Lew’s BBQ this Friday, May 8th. Pre-orders & dine-in only, order at the link in bio. Can’t wait to make these ones for ya and don’t miss the Tahini Chocolate Chunk Cookie!

Simply the best year of my life, with you ♥️ Happy 1st anniversary

Honored to be back on stage at The Broadmoor for the Chef to Chef Conference and honestly just being in a room full of mentors, friends and incredibly talented chefs meant everything to me!

This conversation was not about how food looks it was about what people remember, FLAVOR!
I shared a flavor first approach to modern cooking shifting away from architectural design and into designing flavor with intention.

A big focus was layering flavor not just seasoning but developing it step by step so everything compounds into something unforgettable.

We explored fermentation as a tool for depth including koji curing, different misos, lacto fermentation and then pushing it further by charring tomatoes before fermenting to build smoky complexity.

We talked about building stronger foundations through smoked ham hock stock, flavorful fats to cook in and finish with to become flavor carriers.

Another key idea was using liquids as seasoning thinking about beet cooking liquid used for a crudo instead of going down the drain, caper brine, kimchi juice or turning scallop muscles into a dashi. Things that would end up in the trash being easy ways to add flavor to a dish.

We also got into developing complexity in the middle of cooking through things like brown butter purees, roasted alliums, kombu curing and using global ingredients to open new flavor lanes.

And then finishing with intention through acids, white soy, herbs oils, crunchy elements and contrast

One of my favorite concepts
Flavor stacking vs flavor echoing
Stacking is layering multiple forms of flavor
Echoing is reinforcing one ingredient across different expressions, carrots cooked in carrot juice with seasoning and then reduced and glazed in the same liquid topped with roasted brown butter carrot puree, a fresher cream based carrot puree, toasted pepitas and sesame seeds with shawarma seasoning and then micro carrot tops spritzed with honey yuzu vinegar.

Grateful to share learn and be inspired