In this month’s Chef Talk column, senior staff writer Ligaya Figueras spoke with the new executive chef at Molly’s in Soulard Bryan Flaxbeard about alligator, the difference between Creole and Cajun food and his time in the kitchen of Commander’s Palace. For the first part of the interview, pick up the January issue of Sauce or click here. In the second part of her interview, Flaxbeard shares his views on the importance of texture, his house-made andouille and his nickname “angry pirate.” Your friends call you “the angry pirate.” Is anger something you show in the kitchen? No. The joke was that Flaxbeard sounds like I should be roaming the seas, conquering villages, burning them down and stealing their goats. I’m actually one of the most relaxed people you will ever meet. I treat people with the same respect I would ask for. I think the thing is to take all the best parts from the people that you have and let them shine. If everybody has a piece on the menu, there’s more pride involved.
You have referred to yourself as a “texture freak.” Can you explain that? It’s not only texture, but also flavor. The dish should be fluid, have some rhyme and reason to it, not where there are so many things going on that nothing makes sense. The fluid part of it is making sure that you have all the different facets of texture. You have soft, crispy, creamy, acidic – they give everything layers. No single dish can survive without layers. A classic is a crème brûlée. A crème brûlée would not be fantastic without that crust.
Does Creole food need to be blisteringly hot to be authentic? Just enough to make little beads of sweat come out on your forehead or to clear your sinuses, but it shouldn’t be ferocious, where you say, “I need help!”
You have a delicious house-made andouille. What other ingredients are you making in-house? Tasso, smoked pork for the pulled-pork sandwich, all of our pickling is done here, our barbecue sauce.
What makes your barbecue sauce New Orleans-style? It’s sweet, sour and spicy. Ours holds all the best parts of different barbecue sauces in one. We use a New Orleans hot sauce, Worcestershire sauce, toasted garlic, shrimp shells roasted with tomato paste and rosemary.
What dish on the menu are you most proud of? It’s a tie between the lamb and the short rib. The lamb has got toasted nuts, cinnamon, citrus, sweet potatoes. I love short ribs. Most people doctor them up way too much and try to make the braising liquid taste like something that it is not. All you need to do is let ribs do the talking, take the au jus, add a pinch of salt and thicken it.
Tell me about vegetarian options at Molly’s. I’m in the process of developing a vegetarian menu. It’s something that I think you have to have because it’s become a really big part of our culture.
Lobster Tuesdays at Molly’s are an insanely good deal at $12.95. How early do we have to come in before you sell out? Plan to come early. Most of the time, we sell out in the first hour.
This article appears in January 2011.