About CREA
While traditional cooking leaves food overdone toward the outside, with a sliver of perfectly cooked interior, sous-vide cooks it evenly throughout. The water bath is kept at a constant temperature equal to the food’s perfect doneness, making it impossible to overcook and resulting in more succulent and flavorful food. Because of the unique set of food safety benefits and challenges, it’s best to learn the technique formally.
A Quest For Lost Flavor
One of the most important culinary innovators of our time is a scientist and an economist. Long before he founded Centre de Recherche et d’Etudes pour l’Alimentation (CREA), Bruno Goussault, a French biochemist and food lover, discovered that he could make tough cuts of meat tender by cooking them over long periods of time at low temperatures. What Goussault did differently, though, was that he introduced the vacuum bag. By placing food under vacuum, he prevented it from drying out and captured juices and flavors that would otherwise be lost. He also designed the very first temperature probes using, of all things, hospital syringes. The result was evenly cooked meat that tasted more like itself than any other cooking process could render it.
Changing The Food Regime
With the establishment of CREA in Paris in 1991, Goussault made the first step toward elevating sous-vide cooking from boil-in-bag to haute cuisine. CREA introduced the theory and technology to top chefs. Particularly in the last decade, CREA has helped reinvent sous-vide and redefine the way food is prepared at the world’s finest restaurants.
The World Is Our Kitchen
Today, in collaboration with parent company Cuisine Solutions, CREA has expanded its reach. Goussault and his team of food engineers and sous-vide professionals teach at CREA Paris, CREA USA, and travel the world to conduct seminars and on-site training. Most recently, the school has introduced online video instruction for chefs interested in learning from their own kitchen and on their own schedule. Through the various course options available, CREA students can: Study the scientific theory of sous-vide, Understand the biochemical changes that occur during cooking, Master sous-vide preparation, cooking, chilling and storing of meat, poultry, fish, shellfish, fruit, vegetables, sauces and desserts, Learn the proper way to obtain the Maillard reaction, Develop an understanding of sous-vide HACCP and get help submitting proper paperwork to the health department