Tue 29 Sep 2009 11:35 pm
Enjoying a dish cooked “sous vide” at one of the many Seattle restaurants that use the high-tech technique? Chances are the restaurant is unwittingly violating county health codes.
The King County Health Department recently notified restaurants that the sous vide process — cooking vacuum-sealed food in water baths at low, precisely-controlled temperatures — requires a variance from the health department, as well as an approved Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) plan, a detailed food safety plan more commonly seen in large-scale or industrial operations.
The first (and only, to date) legal kid on the block? It looks to be four-star Crush on Madison, where chef-owner Jason Wilson is legendary for his aromatic, tender, sous-vide short ribs, and employs the technique for other ingredients from carrots to calamari. Crush has been working on its plan for weeks, and recently submitted it (along with $400 in new fees) and provided inspectors with a sous vide class and demonstration. Chef-owner Jason Wilson thought last night the plan had been approved; the health department said approval was “really close.”
Don’t blame restaurants if they don’t have a plan on the books, though — chances are they had no idea they needed one. Restaurants statewide, not just in King County, have technically been required to get the variance since 2005, a health department spokeswoman said, following changes in the state food code. The department only recently realized, though, that sous vide cooking was increasingly common in Seattle restaurants. Many — if not most — high-end restaurants use the techniques, whether advertised on the menu or not. Chefs love sous vide cooking for its even precision, for the way it preserves and even intensifies flavors, allowing them to play with taste and texture.
The regulations stem from food safety worries, chiefly fears that the low temperatures and oxygyn-free environment could increase the risk of botulism. Sous vide cooking has been similarly regulated in New York, where, the New York Times reported, plans must “include step-by-step specifications that regulate how the food is packaged, what equipment is used to cook it, what internal temperature the food must reach, and how it is chilled. The rules require cooks to use expensive water immersion units or combination convection ovens and industrial vacuum-packaging machines.”
In King County, the health department recently alerted restaurants to the requirements, and are working with them to get on board.
If they’re serving sous vide food now, it’s technically against the health code — but inspectors are not giving cease and desist orders, they’re letting the restaurants they work with know they’ll either have to start the permit process or cook up something different on the menu.
9 Responses to “ Sous Vide? So illegal ”
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[...] fancy restaurants have already been doing it for years (though, perhaps illegally). But in 2010, I predict that sous-vide preparations will start showing up on restaurant [...]
I do think it’s worth asking: is it to the benefit of the restaurant community OR to the benefit of consumers for county regulators to interfere in the cooking methods of restaurants in this manner? And not to mention to use it as an opportunity to charge more fees?
Dan
Casual Kitchen
I had no idea sous vide was “dangerous” (other than contemplating the overall concept of cooking food in plastic). Maybe I’ll reconsider trying to learn the technique myself. It sure as heck made for some fabulous tasting steaks - perfectly seared after the bath, of course.
@ Carrie
Please don’t be afraid of it. Just educate yourself before you try it. Its really not that dangerous if you use common sense. The Health Department’s rules follow what I call the “stoned dishwasher” principle. Basically, if the restaurant’s dishwasher, stoned out of his mind, tried to make this dish, could he make someone sick?
Pick up a copy of Under Pressure by Thomas Keller, and you’ll see him talk about the rules for staying safe. They’re as simple as, “Don’t cook anything under 140 degrees for more than 4 hours.”
Its an extraordinarily easy, healthy, and tasty way to cook. It really bums me out when I see health departments get down on this.
In addition to the Keller’s “Under Pressure,” Daniel Baldwin’s “A Practical Guide to Sous Vide Cooking” does an excellent job of explaining sous vide cooking and dispelling some of the fears of botulism.
http://amath.colorado.edu/~baldwind/sous-vide.html
There’s also the legendary eGullet thread on the subject where you can watch Nathan Myrhvoid and other eGulleters become authorities on the subject over the course of five years.
http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?/topic/116617-sous-vide-recipes-techniques-equipment/
In both links, you’ll find time/temperature charts and other safety procedures that help ensure food safety.
It sounds like King County is doing the right thing by offering a “grace period” as restaurants work to get in compliance with the new rules. Considering the liability they might face if there actually was a botulism outbreak, regulations are a necessary CYA step for both the restaurants and the county.
Wow. I’m shocked to hear that Jason Wilson is going about doing this legally. He’s under investigation for not paying his employees overtime. Call David Miljoner at State Department of Labor for more details.
What good is the King County Health Department disclaimer on the menu then? Eating this stuff is less likely to make you sick than raw meat, or old seafood…..
More of the same from local governments. LA is even worse! Telling me and you what we can and cannot put into ourselves. I’ll take my chances, Health Department…
Shouldn’t the health department be cracking down on the filth that comes out of those chain restaurants down in Tukwilla, or the garbage they call “fast food.”
It always interests me, that one of the very first things we learn as humans is how to feed ourselves, but later in life we have someone else telling us how to cook it and if we can eat it…
My husband had a sous vide egg at Tilth the other day for brunch. it definitely looked undercooked, but it was delicious!