Joël Robuchon goes on to say that chocolate is also hard to match with wine. He suggests a better choice is flat water, fortified wine "with chocolate accents", or perhaps coffee.
In his Complete Robuchon, the yoda-like Frenchman also suggests taking eggs out of the refrigerator 30 minutes before you plan to boil them.
We ended our ten day stay in NYC, by attending an intimate chat with Ferran Adrià. A perfect end to a great food focused week including a day spent experimenting with Alex and Aki and a dinner stuffing our faces at WD-50 (more to come on both of those experiences).
So It was so very sweet of Maytel and Ms Q to indulge me in a nearly two hour inspirational talk held at the New York Public Library in honour of Ferran and his new book. I had said if it was boring that we could just slip out and head for eats earlier than planned.
No slipping needed.
Both Maytel and Ms Q loved it and were both left truly inspired, for me I know a lot about this this man and had heard much of what he had spoken of before from the Joël Robuchon story, and that he and a few others (see chefs statement or Manifesto under Heston Blumenthal) were willing to except the term Molecular gastronomy but not Molecular Cooking.
Maytel loved the comments he made about bread, that bread is just as scientific as cooking with liquid nitrogen but no one calls it "scientific bread". Ferran continued to push the point that El Bulli is a kitchen and not a laboratory as is often believed and one myth that clearly the moderator (slow food guy) wanted to maintain. He stressed that there are no scientists in the kitchen, just passionate chefs that are dedicated to their discipline. I also loved that what Ferran emphasised is the importance of cross-disciplinary dialogue, between not only chemists but architects and engineers. Nonetheless while people ahhh and ohhh over smashed fruit pulled from liquid nitrogen and other equally cool techniques. I was personally inspired or reassured that he was just a chef. A chef who has run with every opportunity that has crossed his path.
I loved that he was nervous to start and then the passion of what he does just over took him. Ignoring stupid questions from fellow panellist (except those of course from Super Nerd Harold McGee -he could have held his own talk by the way). Ferran quietly spoke of his interests and seemed to glow like a proud Dad when pictures of his latest creations emerged upon the large screen, and that most importantly he likes Katz's pastrami sandwiches just like me.
In a few days with any luck there should be an audio or hopefully a video cast available here (unfortunately I don't think you can rss this page) but checking back here in the next few weeks should allow you to find a wealth of interesting food discussions during the Restaurant Month at the NYCPL. With talks from Grant Achatz and possibly my favourite topic for a talk ever "A Farewell to Quenelles".
If you live in Thailand you will know that one of the chagrins of farang life is trying to undo the Thai-style rubber band on a plastic bag which is packaging for all manner of foods, including noodle soups, sauce and spices...some people master untying it...others like Maytel swear and get out the scissors
"highonthai" raises the rubber band question on a Thai discussion board.
While "ta22" confuses the matter further with a possible answer
i will try to explain it .
is really a simple RUbber band twist and loop of the head .
to understand it you need to understand how it tie in the first place .
what there do is example if you holding the item on your LEFT HAND .
one end of the rubber band is HOOK on your INDEX FINGER .
and then what you do is .. Using the flex of the rubber band you Go ROUND THE top of the package or plastic bag you want .. a few time .. in circle .. when you feel the tension . THE other end of it .. you will Insert it to the LEFT END of the rubber band HOLD by your LEFT HAND INDEX finger ..
after you do so .. what you do is put the end on top of the package or just mount it into the head of the pack .
But then makes up for it in this educational video.
Two-thirds or more of the human calorie and protein intake that comes from grains and oilseeds (directly in most of the world or among Western vegetarians, largely via animal products for others in this country) will continue to be served up by a dirty, cruel, unfair, broken system.
Essential for providing vitamins, minerals, and other compounds, a highly varied diet is important, and home gardens around the world help provide such a diet. But with a world population now approaching seven billion people and most good cropland already in use, only rice, wheat, corn, beans, and other grain crops are productive and durable enough to provide the dietary foundation of calories and protein.
Grains made up about the same portion of the ancient Greek diet as they do of ours. We've been stuck with grains for 10,000 years, and our dependence won't be broken any time soon.
The United States emulate Argentina and a handful of other countries by raising cattle that are totally grass-fed instead of grain-fed and thereby consuming less corn and soybean meal. But most of the world is utterly dependent on grains. The desperate people we saw on the evening news earlier this year, filling the streets in dozens of countries, were calling for bread or rice, not cucumbers and pomegranates.
Meanwhile small-holder peasant farmers around the world may be wont to experience a whole new and alien emotion...smuggness
Found! For the high-brow among you, the website The Anthropology of Food blog, written in English and French because, why wouldn't it be?
Welcome Anthropology of food, the webjournal dedicated to the social sciences of food. Anthropology of food is an open access bilingual academic journal in French and English. Since 1999, this journal is produced and published by a network of European academic researchers sharing a common intellectual interest in the social science of food
Hock's mum told me that when he was a little boy he would run home from school to watch Julia Child.....Bless!
Anyway, last night during an extremely late night surfing session I found some great quotes from Julia. Not just about food but about life, love and pancakes.
"Drama is very important in life: You have to come on with a bang. You never want to go out with a whimper. Everything can have drama if it's done right. Even a pancake."
"You must have discipline to have fun."
"I'm awfully sorry for people who are taken in by all of today's dietary mumbo jumbo. They are not getting any enjoyment out of their food."
"Moderation. Small helpings. Sample a little bit of everything. These are the secrets of happiness and good health."
"The secret of a happy marriage is finding the right person. You know they're right if you love to be with them all the time."
"Fat gives things flavor."
"I don't think about whether people will remember me or not. I've been an okay person. I've learned a lot. I've taught people a thing or two. That's what's important."
"I think the inner person is the most important.... I would like to see an invention that keeps the mind alert. That's what is important."
"It's fun to get together and have something good to eat at least once a day. That's what human life is all about -- enjoying thing"
"If you're in a good profession, it's hard to get bored, because you're never finished -- there will always be work you haven't done."
"Tears mess up your makeup."
"The measure of achievement is not winning awards. It's doing something that you appreciate, something you believe is worthwhile. I think of my strawberry souffle. I did that at least twenty-eight times before I finally conquered it."
"The problem with the world right now is that we don't have any politicians like Roosevelt or Churchill to give us meaning and depth. We don't have anyone who's speaking for the great and the true and the noble. What we need now is a heroic type, someone who could rally the people to higher deeds. I don't know what's to become of us."
The majority of fish, that is such a crucial protein element in the Cambodian diet, comes from the Tonle Sap, but like fisheries elsewhere in the world, fish stocks in the Tonle Sap are coming under increasing pressure.
The Mekong River Commission's bi-annual newsletter reported recently that:
Eating Sustainable Seafood - Three Tips to Steer Clear of Fisheries Collapse
1. Eat less of the big fish such as salmon, tuna, swordfish and sharks. These are among the most vulnerable populations, and also the fish that live the longest, have the most fat, and accumulate the most toxins over their lifespan.
2. Eat lower on the marine food chain, including smaller species such as clams, oysters, mollusks, anchovies, and sardines. Smaller species are less endangered because they are more abundant, reproduce faster, and feed lower on the food chain (so they don’t consume other fish themselves.) They also have less fat and don’t accumulate as many toxins as the larger, longer-lived fish species.
3. Keep in mind how fish are caught. Some trawling nets are so large they could pull a 747 jet off the ocean floor. Instead, choose fish caught by line, pot, or net (or other artisanal methods) and avoid trawl-caught fish.
"Tell me what you eat, and I will tell you who you are"
Anthelme Brillat-Savarin, The Physiology of Taste, 1825 French gourmet & lawyer (1755 - 1826)
A while ago, when I was writing my thesis proposal (so a very long time ago) I read a great book called "The Rice Economies" by a woman called Francesca Bray. It explained that many people have failed to understand Asian agriculture and therefore culture because they try to understand it and continue to compare it with western agriculture. The book explains the fundamental properties of the rice plant, how as a plant the highest yields are traditionally achieved by labour intensification as opposed to capital extensification like wheat. Think of the traditional image of small bunded rice paddies with peasants hunched over in the sun versus enourmous wheat fields with combine harvesters rolling off into the horizon. This is what she means. Rice also produces more tonnes per hectare of food than wheat thereby supporting larger populations, which in turn can add to labour intensification. Rice also typically, not always, requires complex large-scale water management systems if one is to get the most out of the crop. While disputed, Karl Wittfogel claimed in his book Oriental Depotism, that this requirement led many Asian societies to develop what he termed hydraulic civilisations based on the control of water through authoritarian managerial regimes.
Anyway, the point is when you study food systems you usually arrive not too long into at culture systems.....so I thought the geeks among you may enjoy reading this small thesis entitled "Human societies are defined by their food". The final sections present, what I consider to be some pretty humdrum, standard lefty comments at the end, but the initial sections are useful.
"All evolution is ultimately geared towards genetic reproduction, but to achieve that end, evolution works on two broad goals: the reproduction of life, and the maintenance of life (at least until reproduction has been achieved). These can be reduced with little violence to the truth to the essential drives for food, and sex. Most of the necessities humans require could be served by any social group. Any mixing of males and females will invariably lead to sexual relationships and the successful rearing of children. Protection from the elements is gained easily through any number of methods. That leaves food as the factor which society must spend most of its effort procuring. Not only is food a requirement which is needed on a much more regular basis than sex or protection from the elements, it is also a much riskier prospect than the others. Minimally, only a single sexual liason may result in offspring, and a single shelter can protect several individuals from the elements for an extended period of time--but most people must eat several times a day. In any social group with both males and females, sexual relationships will form, and protection from the elements can be easily attained in any environment--but famines often afflict whole bioregions for lengthy periods of time, and hunger and starvation can even become endemic to an entire population. Any form of society would suffice for our other basic needs. Culture develops primarily as a means of procuring food, and everything in a given culture serves that end."
Generally speaking I'm not a big pot fan. I used to be. In fact I smoked so much pot as a youngster growing up in NZ that I liken myself to Obelix from the Asterix cartoons, I fell in the pot when I was young and have had enough to last me a life time....in case you're wondering many NZ kids are the same....(shock horror, no your teenagers are not still tired at 3 pm in the afternoon from playing playstation). Anyways, the first time I had pot again was years later in Cambodia. The first time was unintentional. We ordered a pizza from a place called Happy Pizza. I had no idea until 3am that morning, when I still couldn't get to sleep, let alone stop talking. I put 2 and 2 together and figured it was the strange green herb sprinkled on our "margarita"
I smoked pot a couple more times in Cambodia during my stay. Unlike pot in most other places in the world where it has been hydroponically grown and manipulated to basically knock your head off, Khmer pot is still natural, smooth and above all relaxing.....
So I was unsurprised to hear the other day when Hock told me that many women in Cambodia will traditionally make a chicken soup with gunja when it is that time of the month. Apparently, in Cambodia men drink rice wine, the women smoke pot.
Recipe for Khmer Gunja Soup
- make chicken soup - spinkle with gunja - have a lie down
or You Can't Have Your Authenticity and Eat It Too
Of course in Singapore we did manage to sniff out a couple of bad meals in the way that only a western tourist couple can, in a city 99% full of yummy food, I believe that most western tourists have a special propensity to encounter the 1% that's bad and it doesn't take much to lure us in. All you need is a few promises of authenticity and a bit of swanky branding, try a logo like the one below
"Gluttons Bay, Esplanade Mall #01-15, ☎ +65-63367025. Daily 6 PM-3 AM. Run by famous foodies Makansutra, this outdoor eatery puts together 12 of Singapore's most famous hawkers. Breezy location by the river, great views of the city and good location make this a winner. $5-10."
So we got all excited and headed down there, only to be served rotting prawns, yes rotting...being kiwis we discussed for at least 5 minutes about whether to return them, we did. We were served the dish again this time with fresh prawns. But by then we were far beyond any interest in completing our meal that was over priced (5 - 10 my ass) and not at all fresh.....
And here in lies the lesson. You cannot take the best hawkers in Singapore, give them a charming river side location, gentrified stall carts and logos and expect the food to stay the same, and to expect the hawkers to remain the best in Singapore. What makes hawkers stands excellent and unique is their connection to locals and place. It is the locals that make it good and keep it good, they are the ones that keep coming back, that keep the ingredients fresh, keep the hawker motivated and they are the ones that can elevate some hawkers to fame status. If you remove the hawker from their place and their customers all you get is a bunch of old rotting prawns.
What makes good food is not just the cook or the chef. It is the location, and the community. Good food is as much a product of place as it is the skills of a careful and conscientious chef. That's why airline and mall food will always suck....they are non-place spaces a bit like Glutton's Bay.
The interview with Deborah Koons Garcia, writer and director of The Future of Food is a uesful starter for understanding some of the monumental issues and decisions been made about our food system, often without most people's knowledge of participation. Although it centres on the USA, with globalised food, the buck obviously doesn't stop there. It's worth knowing if you don't already. Some of the topics covered include political control of companies over food chains and regulation systems, the problem of cross-polination and gene mutations, possible health impacts, environmental impacts, and so on
And, yes some farmers are now being sued for patent infringement for the fact that genes have accidently (or not so accidently) cross-polinated with plants on their fields....not mentioned is the fact that one way companies have tried to avoid cross-polination is through incorporating the terminator gene in plants so they cannot reproduce. However, there is no evidence to say the terminator gene won't cross polinate with other plants rendering parts of the natural environment sterile....if you care about food, you should care about this
Anyway, she introduces a novel idea for bringing down organic food costs - buy raw ingredients and cook...."cooking is the new shopping"....as a friend of mine says "consumerism is so last century", I'm just waiting to see a papparzzi picture of Paris Hilton making jam.
Not that there is uniformity within the bio/organic movement, there is still healthy debate
Unfortunately, Australia seems to be taking the US's lead (again).
"Australia's Chief Scientist, Brian Peacock, in a speech to a conference two weeks ago, called opponents of GM "unprincipled minorities … self-serving organic farmers and ill-informed environmental activists".
"Ever squirm at those reality shows featuring innocent souls forced to snack down on plates of crunchy bugs? The sweet kids' favourite used to be tinted pink with the innocuous "beet red" colouring, but the recipe has been changed to contain "colour (120)". That 120 is cochineal, also known as carmine, and is derived from the dried bodies of pregnant scale insects (the yummy sounding Dactylopius coccus costa). What's even more misleading is that 120 is usually referred to as a "natural colour" - the logic being that insects are "natural". And, apparently, snack-a-licious".
I've been doing a bit of a dig around for Cambodian proverbs on poverty lately, but instead I found these
On Vegetarianism "The pig dies because it is meat"
On Greed "Regarding consumption of the food in this world, if you are not conscious of the amount you eat and eat wastefully without consideration for others, this will create conflict with relatives; when you die the fire will not be enough for a normal cremation (because relatives will not help build the funeral pyre). Overeating is poisonous because eating too much will make a stingy person of others, including relatives."
On Profundity "Deep as the bottom of a plate."
On Treasures "Do not keep tasty food for tomorrow; do not let an attractive wife walk behind you."
On Opportunism "When the head is cooked, eat the head; when the tail is cooked, eat the tail."
On Remembering Our Natural State "No matter how tasty it is when cooked, do not forget when it was raw; normally the cooked condition arises from exposure to heat; if there were no rawness, from where would you get the cooked condition."
