Thierry Marx Reveals the 5 Dishes That Have Shaped His Career
A leading figure in French gastronomy, Thierry Marx has carved out his own path far from the beaten path. From soy risotto to “virtual” sausage, here are 5 dishes that will help you understand his culinary world.
Nothing suggested that Thierry Marx was destined to become one of the most influential chefs of his generation. “I broke into this profession by breaking in, ” he readily admits. His story is that of a determined self-taught chef who started out in pastry before discovering professional kitchens thanks to a fateful encounter: his meeting with Claude Deligne. “He gave me my big break. Back then, all the great chefs passed through Taillevent. It was the place to be for technical skill and creativity. I owe my first dishes to him!”
Since then, Thierry Marx has never stopped forging his own path. From Japan to the Médoc via Paris, from science-inspired techniques to recipes inherited from Escoffier, his cuisine is built on research, observation, and experimentation. Here are five dishes that have left a lasting impression and tell his story.
Soy risotto: a dish born of chance
It’s undoubtedly the dish people still talk to him about the most today. Created in the early 2000s, it became one of Thierry Marx’s signature dishes almost by accident. “I had just returned from Japan, and soy wasn’t widely used in France at the time. One day, a shipment was delivered to me by mistake, and I didn’t know what to do with it.” An intern then began cutting it into pieces the size of grains of rice… The idea for a soy risotto—which cooks in just a few minutes—was born. Combined with oyster juice and truffles, it naturally releases a large amount of water that, when emulsified, forms a light foam. “We hadn’t added anything—the foam formed all on its own, ” he recalls. More than twenty years after its creation, this soy risotto from the Gers region remains one of the most popular dishes.
Charbon Beef: The Dish He Still Prepares
Created during his time as head chef at Château Cordeillan-Bages in the Médoc, this dish was inspired by its wine-growing surroundings. The beef tenderloin is glazed with a mixture made from grapevine cuttings. As it cooks, the meat takes on a deep black color, which earned it its nickname. “It was the guests who called it ‘charcoal beef, ’” Thierry Marx says with a smile. However, no burnt flavor detracts from the taste, since the meat never comes into direct contact with the flame. Smoked to order with vine shoots from the estate, the dish plays on appearances while preserving the delicacy of the meat. Thierry Marx recently brought it back into the spotlight during a four-handed dinner, proof of its timeless appeal.
Stone Age Sea Bass: The Spectacular Dish
With this dish, Thierry Marx reimagines an ancestral cooking method. The sea bass fillet is first marinated with cacao pods and a touch of tonka bean, before being encased in a clay shell. It is cooked entirely in the oven, then cracked open in front of diners just before serving. “We served it with a reduced sauce made from the roasted fish head, ” adds the chef. Accompanied by a simple mashed potato, this dish perfectly illustrates the chef’s penchant for presentations that highlight the ingredient rather than the other way around.
The Virtual Sausage: A Recipe Inspired by Science
In the early 2000s, Thierry Marx introduced a dish that was as intriguing as it was fascinating: the “virtual sausage.” “Everyone thought it was molecular cuisine. But not at all.” The idea originated in a book by Auguste Escoffier, featuring a recipe that the chef decided to modernize by working with a very fluid stuffing enclosed in a casing. When heated, the texture changes, creating the illusion that a sausage is appearing on the plate. This play on the states of matter reflects the chef’s interest in the connections between cuisine and science. “It was simply another way of looking at a classic recipe, ” he summarizes.
Chocolate Marjolaine: A Nostalgic Return to His Pastry Roots
Before becoming a chef, Thierry Marx was a pastry chef. And while he makes no secret of the fact that he now prefers “chefs’ desserts to pastry chefs’ desserts,” this Marjolaine remains a significant milestone in his career. Created after his apprenticeship at Dalloyau, it combines a Joconde sponge cake with several layers of cream: pistachio, coffee, and chocolate. On top, the chef arranges strawberries seasoned with black Okinawan sugar and delicate decorations made of puffed sugar.
