Chef David Bull Teaches as Well as He Cooks

I've known for years that David Bull was an amazing chef.  After all, he was nominated for a James Beard Award for his work at The Driskill Grill, went head to head with Bobby Flay on Iron Chef America, and, most recently, has been wooing Dallas as the Executive Chef at Bolla, the restaurant at the historic Stoneleigh Hotel & Spa.  Local foodies have been atwitter about his return to Austin and the opening of his two new restaurants, Congress and Second, this fall.

Chef Bull with Christina Lee, head of the Central Market Cooking School

What I didn't know about Chef Bull is that he is a fantastic teacher.  This is particularly important to me because my day job is in the learning and development field.  As part of that work,  I've taught almost 1,000 classes and trained dozens of other trainers.  Needless to say, I can be a bit tough on presenters - my colleagues call me "The Russian Judge" when we do evaluations.

I've had a chance over the last several months to see Chef Bull present to three very different audiences: a demo at the Texas Hill Country Wine and Food Festival, a cooking class at Central Market and a demo to the culinary students at Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts in Austin.  At each presentation, I was impressed with his ability to share valuable information with people of varying skill levels in an accessible and easy manner.

Chef Bull doesn't just tell you how he is making a dish, he makes you think about why he is doing it that way.  Is it salty or sweet, crunchy or soft?  How will the flavors pair with the other things on the plate?  Are you creating textural contrast?

Rolling out his potato gnocchi, a favorite dish on the Bolla menu

He often begins the session having everyone taste four items and identify them as salty, bitter, sweet or sour.  Even with highly developed palates, a number of people in the audience guess incorrectly.

Chef Bull reminds us that everything comes back to the four basic tastes and that you have to balance and build flavor to create a great dish.  With every new recipe, he asks the audience to identify in which taste bucket the different key ingredients belong.

He quizzes you, "What does a beet taste like?"  When the audience answers sweet, he fires back "How do you balance it?"

Don't have a chinois?  Chef Bull suggests using cheese cloth in a strainer.

He even offers up tips for the simple things like easily removing the rind from watermelon or grapefruit, carefully showing you how to follow the fruit so that you have almost no waste.

Prevent waste by following the rind as you peel the fruit.

Chef Bull wants you to think about what you are cooking, not just follow the recipe.  In all of the cooking classes and demoes I've attended over the years, I've rarely seen a chef who was so intent on helping you walk away a better cook.  The chefs in these demos are usually entertaining and charming, but they aren't as focused about what you as they learner are taking away from the session.

Some say, "Those who can't do, teach." I've never agreed with that axiom.  Instead, I've found that true masters aren't just experts in their fields, but are people who can and are willing to share that expertise.   After watching Chef David Bull teach, I think we may have a master in our midst.  

Processing potatoes in the ricer for the gnocchi.

Full photo set on Flickr.