foie gras + huckleberry + confit lemon + grand marnier jelly
rainbow trout + asparagus + sour cream + purple sorrel
calamari + caramelized peanut + asian pear + mango
beef crudo + black olive + smoked cheddar + puffed mushroom noodle
fromage frais + lemon curd + lemon pearls + blueberry
iced coffee bombs
Friday, October 17, 2008
Oh what a night!
So I had a very exciting last night in Canada last week. I had the opportunity to see Ferran Adriá interviewed in promotion of his new book A day at elBulli. He was one cool cat, de-bunking the term molecular gastronomy by explaining that scientists are involved in all manner of food production and preparation today. Whether it is the engineering of all-purpose flour we bake with at home to the construction of a frying pan for the simple frying of an egg. Ferran pointed out that all cooking is technically molecular.
He took only one question from the audience but it resulted in an interesting answer; a young man asked if he started his far-out creations with the creative idea and then brought it to reality or if he started with a normal dish and then made it creative. He had a bit of a philosophic answer and my heart sank when he said (I’m not kidding) “there is no such thing as truth, everyone has there own truth…” but I understood the context he meant it in, which was that of flavor preference (we’re talking aesthetics not ethics). He went on to say he thought anyone whose job is solely to be creative is of little value, “creative directors” for example can be deemed unnecessary. He closed by explaining that last point with this thought “if one of my creative team members does not come in, life goes on, if the dish washer does not show up, everything stops.”
We followed up the interview and book signing with a reception and dinner at Colborne Lane. The chef at Colborne Lane did a stage at el Bulli and his cuisine shows the influence of Ferran. Dehydrated, frozen, powdered, crystallized and liquefied foods were never presented so well. One of the coolest presentations is the “iced coffee;” a frozen white “ice cube” of white chocolate with a molten mocha center that disappears in your mouth as soon as you eat it! The foie gras bombs were also amazing, like a soft and savory, melt-in-your-mouth lollipop. Calamari extruded and fried like Mexican churros were a thought provoking munchie. Probably one of my favorites was a perfectly cooked olive crusted lamb chop –wow!
So I owe a big thank you to John and Nicola. They turned me on to the event and provided great conversation at dinner. John and I have been trading chef-dialogue for quite some time. He recently turned me on to this website. He is a huge fan of the molecular culinary movement as am I. His Pacojet Appreciation Society should give you some good insight to this particular niche of our industry. Thanks again John for thinking of me! I will catch you on the next trip through Toronto.
He took only one question from the audience but it resulted in an interesting answer; a young man asked if he started his far-out creations with the creative idea and then brought it to reality or if he started with a normal dish and then made it creative. He had a bit of a philosophic answer and my heart sank when he said (I’m not kidding) “there is no such thing as truth, everyone has there own truth…” but I understood the context he meant it in, which was that of flavor preference (we’re talking aesthetics not ethics). He went on to say he thought anyone whose job is solely to be creative is of little value, “creative directors” for example can be deemed unnecessary. He closed by explaining that last point with this thought “if one of my creative team members does not come in, life goes on, if the dish washer does not show up, everything stops.”
We followed up the interview and book signing with a reception and dinner at Colborne Lane. The chef at Colborne Lane did a stage at el Bulli and his cuisine shows the influence of Ferran. Dehydrated, frozen, powdered, crystallized and liquefied foods were never presented so well. One of the coolest presentations is the “iced coffee;” a frozen white “ice cube” of white chocolate with a molten mocha center that disappears in your mouth as soon as you eat it! The foie gras bombs were also amazing, like a soft and savory, melt-in-your-mouth lollipop. Calamari extruded and fried like Mexican churros were a thought provoking munchie. Probably one of my favorites was a perfectly cooked olive crusted lamb chop –wow!
So I owe a big thank you to John and Nicola. They turned me on to the event and provided great conversation at dinner. John and I have been trading chef-dialogue for quite some time. He recently turned me on to this website. He is a huge fan of the molecular culinary movement as am I. His Pacojet Appreciation Society should give you some good insight to this particular niche of our industry. Thanks again John for thinking of me! I will catch you on the next trip through Toronto.
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Truth is not tolerent.
Truth. Take a moment and define the word.
What did you come up with? Was it a hard fast description of reality that is objective and unbiased for everyone? Did you find yourself asking “hmmm, what is truth for me?” Did you find your mind wandering into some Matrix-like meta-physical daydream of perception and how you look at reality versus how others do?
Dictionary.com’s first two definitions are; 1. Actual state of a matter 2. Conformity with fact and reality. If you follow their link to the definition of “reality” you find; 1. state of being real or fact. When you link to the definition of “real” you get; 1. True. Despite this seemingly simple and logical circle of thought, if you click on the “related topics” link along the left side of the page from the definition of truth or reality, you will get a long thread of postings where claims are asserted that there is something other than objective reality and truth. It seems many think this conformity to fact and reality can be interpreted differently byway of one’s perception.
It is an unfortunate incremental degradation that has advanced in education that the term truth is no longer taught as an absolute. The phrase “what is true for one, may not be true for others.” is scary when you understand the implications. If that statement holds “true” then the statement itself has no foundation. If everyone held to a position that everyone else’s position could be accepted as truth and thus reality we would have no solidarity in life to cling to.
When two mutually exclusive ideas butt heads one of them has to be wrong. Truth is a reality immune to perception and interpretation and only is exactly as it is.
What did you come up with? Was it a hard fast description of reality that is objective and unbiased for everyone? Did you find yourself asking “hmmm, what is truth for me?” Did you find your mind wandering into some Matrix-like meta-physical daydream of perception and how you look at reality versus how others do?
Dictionary.com’s first two definitions are; 1. Actual state of a matter 2. Conformity with fact and reality. If you follow their link to the definition of “reality” you find; 1. state of being real or fact. When you link to the definition of “real” you get; 1. True. Despite this seemingly simple and logical circle of thought, if you click on the “related topics” link along the left side of the page from the definition of truth or reality, you will get a long thread of postings where claims are asserted that there is something other than objective reality and truth. It seems many think this conformity to fact and reality can be interpreted differently byway of one’s perception.
It is an unfortunate incremental degradation that has advanced in education that the term truth is no longer taught as an absolute. The phrase “what is true for one, may not be true for others.” is scary when you understand the implications. If that statement holds “true” then the statement itself has no foundation. If everyone held to a position that everyone else’s position could be accepted as truth and thus reality we would have no solidarity in life to cling to.
When two mutually exclusive ideas butt heads one of them has to be wrong. Truth is a reality immune to perception and interpretation and only is exactly as it is.
Monday, October 6, 2008
Back in the saddle...
Wow, the last month or so has flown by. I got a little too pre-occupied to post. Work has ramped up in the R&D in the kitchen, I created some really cool plates for our Canadian, Mexican and Middle Eastern locations. I unveiled them to the franchisees at the Wynn casino in Las Vegas last week; good reception. Tuesday night 75 of us went out to eat at Daniel Boulud's Brasserie, it was the best executed catered dinner I have eaten. I peeked in the kitchen and said hello to executive chef Wess who was really hospitable.
The best meal last week was at Alain Ducasse's Mix. This sits atop THE Hotel at Mandalay and has an awesome view of the strip 60+ stories high. I did three course's with the kitchen responding to special requests (we mixed and matched some plate set-ups and protiens.) The foie gras was great and I had it paired with a glass of Sauternes; an over-done classic but still one of my top 3 favorite things to eat on the planet. The side of fresh morrells was the best thing I had eaten in a month, they were FRESH. I had a macadamia and pistachio crusted halibut for an entree, little extras like parmesan foam made it special.
Prior to Vegas I also had a chance to get to Napa Valley twice more in the last month in a half. Ate at old favorites; Bouchon, Tre Vigne and of course a burger at Taylor's Refresher. Had some wine and snacks at Go Fish one evening, a short walk from the old El Bonita where I normally stay. A real treat on the last trip was getting turned on to Bistro Jeanty; this is a great place to eat for foodies. They serve French classics like pig's trotters, veal kidney's and...wait for it...roasted bone marrow-yay! My apologies to Keller but I will walk on by Bouchon from now on to Bistro Jeanty. We did make the obligatory late night stop at Anna's Cantina for a draft PBR and to throw a couple of dollars in the cieling too (you'll know if you go.)
It seems all this time at home for the first half of the year left some travel to make up for in the back half. So it is back in the saddle, or economy plus exit row if I can help it, and out of the country I go. Alex and I find it a bit harder to be apart when I am at home for so long but it makes us appreciate our time together that much more. So it means I write this post from Toronto but it also means some quiet evenings alone in a hotel room to catch up on some apologetics studies and blog posts. More thoughts soon, stay tuned...
The best meal last week was at Alain Ducasse's Mix. This sits atop THE Hotel at Mandalay and has an awesome view of the strip 60+ stories high. I did three course's with the kitchen responding to special requests (we mixed and matched some plate set-ups and protiens.) The foie gras was great and I had it paired with a glass of Sauternes; an over-done classic but still one of my top 3 favorite things to eat on the planet. The side of fresh morrells was the best thing I had eaten in a month, they were FRESH. I had a macadamia and pistachio crusted halibut for an entree, little extras like parmesan foam made it special.
Prior to Vegas I also had a chance to get to Napa Valley twice more in the last month in a half. Ate at old favorites; Bouchon, Tre Vigne and of course a burger at Taylor's Refresher. Had some wine and snacks at Go Fish one evening, a short walk from the old El Bonita where I normally stay. A real treat on the last trip was getting turned on to Bistro Jeanty; this is a great place to eat for foodies. They serve French classics like pig's trotters, veal kidney's and...wait for it...roasted bone marrow-yay! My apologies to Keller but I will walk on by Bouchon from now on to Bistro Jeanty. We did make the obligatory late night stop at Anna's Cantina for a draft PBR and to throw a couple of dollars in the cieling too (you'll know if you go.)
It seems all this time at home for the first half of the year left some travel to make up for in the back half. So it is back in the saddle, or economy plus exit row if I can help it, and out of the country I go. Alex and I find it a bit harder to be apart when I am at home for so long but it makes us appreciate our time together that much more. So it means I write this post from Toronto but it also means some quiet evenings alone in a hotel room to catch up on some apologetics studies and blog posts. More thoughts soon, stay tuned...
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