culinary arts
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Reading Analogically: Ideas From René Redzepi’s “A Work In Progress”
“We’re always searching for an association that allows the dish to make sense on a fundamental level–a connection we can build the finishing elements on.” “We made a dish with no reference points in the past nor in other lands.” Examining in depth a single ingredient. Mapping ingredients and creating a knowledge bank. “It’s almost Continue reading
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On Creative Analogies: Lessons From Coi
“Perfect food is born of perfect order.” – Daniel Patterson, Coi I have written previously on this blog (see culinary arts posts) about connections between cooking and music. To add to that mix, I recently read Daniel Patterson’s excellent Coi cookbook. The book is structured around a series of short narratives that provide context for Continue reading
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On Creative Analogies: Lessons From El Bulli
“Order, order, order, that’s how you create.”–Ferran Adria If you have an interest in creativity, there are a number of reasons to recommend watching the film Cooking In Progress. The film tracks Ferran Adria and his crew from the famous El Bulli restaurant in a coastal town in north-east Spain. El Bulli is now closed–Adria Continue reading
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Notes On Magnus Nilsson’s “Faviken”
In Bill Buford’s insightful essay that introduces Magnus Nilsson’s Faviken cookbook (Phaidon), Nilsson speaks of feeling, touch, and vibration when explaining the transcendent quality of French chef Michel Bras‘ cooking: “I don’t think I can describe it. Or not in technical terms, because it has nothing to do with technique (…) It’s in an extra Continue reading
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On Flavors, Tastes, Sound And Perception: Thinking Through Ruhlman’s Twenty
“Clear your way. Always be thinking.” – Michael Ruhlman, Ruhlman’s Twenty First, let me say the obvious: if you like to cook and want to know more about the science and craft of cooking, you’ll probably enjoy Michael Ruhlman’s Ruhlman’s Twenty. The book provides much to think about by explaining fundamental techniques and ingredients in a sensible Continue reading
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On Repetition: “Jiro Dreams Of Sushi”
“I would see ideas in dreams.” – Jiro Ono Just as I was beginning to think I might know something about repetition, I watched a film that made me rethink that notion. The film is David Gelb’s documentary Jiro Dreams Of Sushi (2011) which follows around 85-year-old sushi master Jiro Ono as he works in Continue reading
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On Finding Cross-Sensory Inspiration: The Spell Of Michel Bras
The Michelin-starred, self-taught French chef Michel Bras may as well be a music composer, such is his multi-sensory approach to his culinary craft. In the ambient and thoughtful documentary Inventing Cuisine: Michel Bras (2008), directed by Paul Lacoste, we see Bras at work on the kitchen–poaching fish, peeling veggies, brooding over his (fascinating) sketchbooks, and Continue reading
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On Matthew Herbert’s One Pig
Several years ago I read an interview with the English experimental electronic musician Matthew Herbert in Tape Op magazine and I remember him going on about the importance of his audio samples. Herbert didn’t want to use just any old sound sample. He wanted to use sounds that had some meaning for him–sounds that had Continue reading
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Heston Blumenthal On Multisensory Experiences
The self-taught English chef Heston Blumenthal, owner of The Fat Duck restaurant and famous for pushing the bounds of cookery, is interested in how sensory context affects our experience of food. In a recorded statement of his philosophy available for listening (as an MP3 file) on his website, Blumenthal notes that even sound can play an important Continue reading
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Creative Strategies From elBulli’s Cookery
This blog post is not about music or sound per se, but about the creative process of cooking. I am a big fan of books about cookery, and they can be read from a sideways perspective–thinking by analogy about how they may offer insight onto other domains. With that said, every once in a while you Continue reading
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