POOR Jean Fleury. No sooner had the jet-lagged chef from France finished lunch for 75, than the contents of a Hongkong refrigerator were given to him.
The challenge - make dinner for two from leftovers, imported from North Point. In 30 minutes or less.
For the chef de cuisine from the famed Paul Bocuse three-star Michelin restaurant near Lyon, honoured as ''First Chef of Belgium'' during a stint in Brussels, and, in 1989, ''Chef of the Century'' from dining critics Gault & Millau, the task was small potatoes.
His creation, a chicken pot au feu, testified to the philosophy espoused by his colleagues for decades - good cooking is a marriage of technique, ingredients and simplicity.
Fleury is here, showing off his three-star style at the Hilton Grill. Over the next six months the hotel will showcase various French chefs in honour of the hotel's 30th birthday.
The contents of our shopping bag included half a cooked chicken, carrots, less-than-fresh broccoli, cabbage, long beans, tomatoes, onion, garlic, instant noodles and ginger. In less than eight seconds, he announced: ''Pot au feu.'' ''I've never seen this way of cutting,'' he said, about the tiny pieces of chicken. He made a stock, using chicken powder cubes. ''Every kitchen has these,'' he added, in rapid-fire French. ''They're needed because the [cooked] chicken can't give any more flavour.'' With two saucepans on high flame, he prepared stocks for the tomato sauce and chicken. With two pots of boiling water, he and an assistant blanched each vegetable individually. Out of the 15 ingredients, he didn't use the sesame seed. ''Use those on bread.'' Pivoted between the range and the counter, Fleury reached for strainers and knives while keeping one eye on the chopping board, the other on a pot. He called for the salt or pepper mill the way movie surgeons ask nurses for scalpels. He sampled with a teaspoon. When the tomato sauce needed more salt, he flung a handful with the wrist action of a flamenco dancer.