67 replies to this topic

[pastramionrye]

I say if it tastes like shit the first time, why try to intellectualize yourself into enjoying it.

that is tue in and very funny in one regard...

but havent you ever bought a record or cd, and there are a few songs that catch your attention first...and you love them, and then there is that one song that at first was just ok...but then grows on you...and in the end, that becomes your favorite song on the album.

it isnt about over-intellectualizing, though some people are guilty of that...it is about wrestling with your minds expectations, and about its natural inclination to grasp for something familiar...

that is why we cling to the catchy song first (the steak au poivre); but in time grow to love the hidden gem.

[docsconz]

It's called "acquired taste". Good post, Pastrami.

[John Whiting]

A browse through Calvin W. Schwabe's _Unmentionable Cuisine_ or Jerry Hopkins' more unbuttoned _Strange Foods_ will demonstrate yet again that no taste is too painful, expensive, or outré to be acquired if an individual or a society is determined to do so. As with warfare, one common motivation is sheer boredom, and the purpose of advertising is to inculcate boredom where none existed before.

[jordana]

When considering what is avante guard and vanguard it is important to remember that the world is very postmodern.
Just as in movies and literature the only new innovations in my opinion can come from pastiche.
remember that at one point (and maybe for some still now) 50's era cuisine was considered comfort food in the 90s and he restaurants that served this were and still are considered avan guard. Then again though out cultur eis so fast moving it isnt long before the avant guard becomes the guard.

[inventolux]

Learn the philosophy, create your own reality.

[Chef/Writer Spencer]

two for one day...

Edited by Chef/Writer Spencer, 17 June 2003 - 06:42 PM.

[Gerry Dawes]

Robert Brown wrote: "I suspect that Adria's cuisine is more Catalan-based than it appears to the layman and that there are subtleties that escaped people like me."

If you really want to taste great Catalan-based modern cuisine, Santi Santamaria at El Raco de Can Fabes is your guy.

[Bicycle Lee]

It does seem obvious that no matter how many people try (and fail) to follow in the footsteps of Adria, it is far less widespread than the rapacious misuse of Escoffier's techniques in the kitchens of conceited, arrogant, coked-up chefs...
it also seems clear that one reason why a lot of people are adverse to the use of new and innovative techniques, a la El Bulli, is the fact that the revolution didn't come from France....or even Napa for that matter (ewww did I just say that?). Personally I think Adria has a great focus: fusing science, art, flavor....some of the best empirical practices we know....to create something that isn't a mirror image of the past, but one that is as if we are looking into a fun house mirror- it distorts our preconceived notions and is pleasant and amusing.
His aim, I believe, keeps things fresh...because it is such an unstable way to cook. It relies on the imaginations of human beings, which are obvious racked with attention deficit disorder. As he said a month or so ago : "Foams are out for us..." To continuously fabricate trends (correctly) is probably the most difficult task a chef can have.