Exclusive Interview, Le Fleurs de Sang Magazine, Chef Vivienne Michiels, Dahlia:
FS: Thank you for taking some time out of your evening, Chef, who don't we begin?
VM: Of course, I'm always happy to discuss my culinary exploits with your readers.
FS: Have you always wanted to be a chef?
VM: I don't think that I can recall a moment in my life when food was not a part of my day. The heat of the oven, the sounds of the fire, the smells wafting up from the pans. I did not, however, begin my life as anything too terribly important. I was the daughter of a scullery maid. I don't mind recalling that I spent most of my childhood scrubbing grease from the floors of the castle just outside of Namur, in what was then the Austrian Netherlands. What a step up this has been, wouldn't you say?
FS: I would. Austrian Netherlands? So that would have been about…
VM: 1716 was the year I was born. Only about three years after the Spanish ceded their control of the region to the Austrians. Thankfully, the upper class in Namur knew better than to fight against the political machinations going on around them. Quite forward-thinking people, to be sure. And I don't recall that my mother, God rest her soul, ever mention that her life changed overmuch when the Austrians came in. But then, I don't suppose much does change when you're doing menial labour. Only the person you're working for does.
FS: And you lived in Namur for the duration of your human life?
VM: Oh, for most of it yes, but we sometimes travelled with the family, if the retinue they needed to keep up appearances was large enough. I can't recall that we ever left the low countries though. But I don't think your readers are really all that interested in my life before the change, are they?
FS: Oh, I think our readers would love to know a few of the Chef's secrets. What can you tell us about your transition into our society?
VM: I was twenty-three, this was the winter of 1739. As I recall, it was quite a terrible one. There wasn't much in the way of visitors to the castle, though we did have one family, the Johansses wintering with us. They had a man with them, Frederic Feyaerts…
FS: The Chef for the court of the King of Orleans, France?
VM: The same. He's settled down, or so I heard, though he was certainly something of a wanderer then. He had a liking for traveling the nations, attaching himself to human courts as a means of distracting himself from the troubles he would cause in vampiric ones, until he had used them up. Rather like a tick, falling from a dog's belly once it's had its fill of blood.
FS: You hardly sound fond of Chef Feyaerts. Is he a rival?
VM: Hardly, he was my Maker. He plucked me from my home, killed my mother to give me nothing to run back to, and took me with him when he left the Austrian Netherlands for the Basque region of Spain.
FS: It doesn't sound as though your life with him began auspiciously.
VM: Well, there's certainly no love lost between us, even after almost 300 years. But Chef Feyaerts has more to answer for than the death of my human mother. But that pales against the things that he taught me. The gift he gave me. He brought me into our society, trained me in the culinary arts, as they applied both to human kind, as we often seed our blood stock with human indulgences to flavour the wine and to more suitable tastes. He taught me to fill blood with spice and the essense of everything that we secretly crave but can no longer enjoy.
FS: He made you the woman I am today?
VM: He gave me the building blocks to want to learn, to create, yes. He gave me the drive to be a success, but not, I think, in the way you imagine. Feyaerts is a very arrogant man. He loves credit, he loves accolade. It's why he chooses to be so exclusive to the royal households. He gathers those he finds talented, or worthwhile, trains them, allows them their head, and claims all of their genius to his credit. I spent the first, almost seventy-five years of my life living that way with him. We travelled from court to court, catering to the culinary needs of their members. Technology was advancing, we were discovering new spices, new means of making blood truly intoxicating.
FS: And then?
VM: And then I perfected my chili-infused blood marrow consomme. And he served it, bearing his name, at the court of the Queen of Cheyres. Seventy-five years I spent at his side, doing my duty as his Child, as his assistant, and just as I had perfected my signature dish, he stole it from me. He had taken my life from me. My family, I was not going to stand for him also taking my art.
FS: And you left him? I can't imagine he was pleased.
VM: Not in the least. But the truth is, he had been stealing my recipes for decades. But that was the final straw. I struck out on my own, moving further south and east, not only to get away from his influence, but to explore the new techniques and ingredients coming out of the east. I spent quite a number of years in the Baltic regions, and further, down into the near and middle east. Have you ever had the chance to visit the region, Turkey in particular? Spectacular.
FS: I have not, though I'll certainly have to add it to my calendar. But what brought you to the States?
VM: Well, after a number of decades in the far reaches of the east, I came back to Europe, to explore some of the more avant garde food trends that had been cropping up. New technology, new machines, all very exciting. The things that humans are doing now with food is simply a marvel. And there are so many applications for our own cuisine.
FS: Was this the beginning of your exploration into molecular gastronomy?
VM: It was. New techniques have really allowed me to explore so many different avenues, particularly in the last thirty years or so. Many of my post popular dishes have come out of this time period alone.
FS: Your beluga-infused caviar. Simply marvelous, Chef.
VM: Thank you. My beef with asparagus foam. Also my blood olives, which seem to be particularly popular. There are others, but to give you the exact dates, that would simply be too many secrets.
FS: And now, with Dahlia?
VM: I've decided to strike out in a different direction. Before the Great Revelation, my art was necessarily confined to secrecy. I worked in private homes, at courts. But now, with the increase in availability of ingredients, with the ability to explore openly. I simply could not pass up the chance to bring my art to the mainstream, to offer my creations to a larger portion of our community.
FS: And when new guests come to visit Dahlia…if they can get a reservation, as I've heard you're already booked into the new year, what would you recommend?
VM: I always recommend, for those who want a truly exciting evening, the 30-course tasting menu. Sweet, sour, bitter, savoury…I can guarantee a culinary indulgence unlike any experienced before.