akwa

ill take that as a complement at the end of the day happy people equals success

For afternoon snack today I had one fried chicken thigh, a small piece of corn bread and a glass of water. This was the first solid food of the day.

for lunch today i had a large latte without sugar from Irving Coffee Growers I must say it is a fine example of a latte what it cried out for was a chocolate Much has been written about the history of chocolate. Interestingly, little in popular culture focuses on the irony of chocolates role as a sensual star versus its history as a product of colonial exploitation. We are not going to begin that dialogue in these pages, as it is worthy of an entire anthropological study. Suffice it to say that chocolate has a rich history as the food of kings, has played an important role in world trade for centuries, has established itself consistently as a luxury treasure, and is remarkable even for its nutritive powers, and is currently in vogue for its smoothing effects on the skin. In short, one of the most remarkable products in the world. A fine mess of dry extract of cocoa bean, sugar, cocoa butter, and perhaps lecithin and less often vanilla. The most intimate relationship with chocolate can be obtained by participating in the fabrication. Having the ability to influence the picking, roasting, and maturing of the beans before processing is an incredible luxury. For this reason it is always desirable to contact small chocolate manufacturers. However, as this is not always practical or cost effective, it is important to be comfortable with mass market chocolates. I prefer Barry for taste neutral applications, Michel Cluizel for texture, and Plantations for flavor. It is likely that sustainable farming cooperatives forming public private partnerships with chocolate refiners will be influential over the next century. The relationship between the two is more intricate and complicated that in previous centuries, as both the growers are increasingly sophisticated, and the producers are increasingly reliant on skilled sources to generate a superior distinctive product.

Some say that cleanliness is next to godliness. And organization must surely follow after cleanliness in that line of thought. Yet chaos has some part in this thing too, the thing of ideas and certainly in the thing of demonstrating civilization. One wonders whether cleanliness could exist without the opposing chaos. I like the idea of a beautiful cleanliness and a nicely-tied up organization (such as in the study of Logic) that is well informed by the ultimately encompassing reality of chaos. Chaos is the world, really, and things that are created without a hint of its power, a sense of its power underlying the created thing (whether it be a piece de resistance of a pastry for dessert or whether it be a pure idea). . .that thing will have a sense of flatness about it, won't it. ← imho you are perfectly correct i see no inherent contradiction between chaos and order on the contrary they are partners in crime i just see them as two points of the same curved axis, the perception varies according to time, space, taste, etc. perhaps its possible to ignore chaos as a principal element in the discussion only because I take it for granted that all of the initial rules are determined without control, all the variables are naturally chaotic my daughter had milk for lunch

I see your stream of consciousness is still at work. Some believe that Guinness is good for lactating mothers. On the toilet deprivation issue, I feel we need some more detail. Do you intend doing this in your own house? And do you intend taking the process through to its logical conclusion and caring for the 'infants' yourself? If you transport the minds of your diners back to infancy by evoking warm memories, do you believe that you have a responsibility to support them while they are in this state? If they are visiting infacts, I suggest that this is the time to return them to their parents. One area you haven't explored is the reflux action of the baby after eating. Is there some way that the reinfantised diners can be winded? Should they be asked to spit out a lactic foam to simulate the enjoyment of that release? ← guiness helps to produce vitamin b. regards responsibility, excellent question. correct response regarding visitors. regards wind, burping used to be considered a tableside compliment.

no pure conceptual art for sale with social relevance and meaning

right now the website is being redesigned for an october rebirth jwrightdesign is doing the work jwrightdesign

This morning I had a Poland Spring water for breakfast. Gastronomic sufferi Invitation au voyage Nervously making plans for dodging a week just after opening. Looking back across my absorption lines, I find varying speed of thought. Keep referencing back to the rare moments of “clarity.” And then it was no drama. Because we were behind schedule. So I got married. And bought a house, had a baby, and went to Brazil. The Rosario situation It all began on a toilet in Sydney; Rozelle to be precise. I was giving an interview to an Italian journalist regarding the future of cooking, AKWA. Naturally I was emboldened by my position in a toilet stall in a youth hostel outside Tetsuya. But after a year with the rain in Spain, that’s about how high I was. Fortunately the online ticket broker did not pursue this lead. When asked the purpose of my visit to Brazil, I said PERSONAL Organisation (avant tous choses) In what way demonstrate civilization It was Cheong that taught me that cooking is a measure of civilization. Why the plate. What is the relationship. Where do ideas come from. These are the questions I began to ask while still at El Bulli. And for me that answer comes from cleanliness and organization, not godliness. So I began to research Brazil and found checkered past of seaside paradise and slavery. Cuisine reflecting molasses and french tarts. And my mind began to work. Descent Favela chic One of my old poor jokes in Maine, when I was poor, was Why do poor people take the bus? Because it sucks; Poor people have miserable lives. In Rio, people walk because they can’t afford the bus. The approach past the indomitable buddy Jesus is breathtaking. Sandwiched by surf and rainforest, Rio is an incredible mix of flavor. Buzios, now overrun with teenage tourists and local prostitutes, is not. In Rio, I ate frozen raw coconuts on the beach watching teenagers play futbol, the beautiful game. In Buzios, I watched CNN and drank imported beer. Each day the cuisinier begins with nothing at the stove Hot water is too expensive At the Casas Brancas life was good. We were escorted around town and served luxurious meals that seemed strangely out of place on unpaved roads lined with litter. And then it was time to make the relationship with the restaurant who would be my host for the televised portion of the program. She said no. So I walked into the next restaurant and asked the gentleman if I could speak in English. He said yes. I told him my dilemma, I was a chef from New York in town for RAI to make a television pilot, (Like Vincent Vega, he was aware of the invention called the television, and that on that invention they show shows.) and my host had turned into hostile. I asked to speak to the chef, and was calmly embarrassed when the gentleman revealed that he was in fact the chef. I suggested I would check with the owner, and was less calmly embarrassed when the gentleman revealed that he was in fact also the owner. So the next day I began to hunt and gather for the dinner at Sawasdee. Menu invertido Caiprinha spray Because the water is too expensive on the tiny peninsula made popular by Bardot in the sixties, we use only chlorinated cold water to cook. There was alas, one microwave in the four kitchens I visited in Buzios, and fortunately I made it mine. The etat sauvage was more warmly represented by Seu Carlinho, or Little Mister Charles, the most exhilarating farmhand I have ever met. At the “farm” of Seu Carlinho, which consisted of a tent with random and not so random plant arrangements, I developed my philosophy for the meal. Already I had decided to make an upside down menu; straightforward being too straightforward for my giant ego. With dessert first, I needed products and sensory exploration. I found many of these on the ground of Seu Carlinho. Caju fruit, just to smell. Wild mountain spinach to freeze and eat. Savage basil to rub and an occasional rogue lemongrass to further confuse Thailand and Brazil. We went with the fisherman to catch the fish, and went to the supermarket for further inspiration. Olor caju Chocolate dende with farofa virtual of café con leche Café de manha Pan queixo con batido de pan queixo Ensalada congelada espinacas seu carlinho Papillote of brazilian palms with praline Mayonnaise of fish (cabi.o.lait de coco) I don’t remember Caiprinha spray Chupa chups de maracuja Menu invertido Ensalada congelada? Well the freezer didn’t work at Sawasdee, so I was forced to abandon my most exciting dish. Fortunately, I didn’t leave the dish off of the menu, and I told everyone about it. This was cuisine virtual. The dish was experienced without being seen, touched, or tasted. Each day the cuisinier begins with nothing at the stove You’re not recording this are you? The most exciting food of the week, aside from Martin’s menu, which was the best prepared, was Donato’s tape recorded tableside descriptions. Martin, a friend from Buenos Aires had prepared the first menu, and on leave from his art museum café in Barcelona, had knocked the pants off of the room. I think that even the most adventurous consumers, if not exposed to the most adventurous chefs of the moment, remain relatively timid regarding cuisine. (Here to digress would be relativity in cuisine and plated desserts; or the varying speed of absorption of ideas in the food world.) Martin’s menu was peppered with ingenious touches of tableware and presentation coupled with an actual taste. Donato’s menu was actual Italian food with local ingredients and love. I was cooking with both of them and what this Gastronomic Safari missed out on was potential collaboration of young impressionable minds. Descent The worst toilet in Scotland Is in the Rio de Janeiro airport, which happens to be the worst airport in the world. It is the only airport that makes you wish you had been mugged on the way in. After passing through security I was informed I could not pass back, and therefore, without a dollar, access to a bank machine, an open bar, any location that accepted any type of card, and a sunburn, I smoked with the laborers under the falling ceiling tiles. Organisation (avant tous choses) Quark After love, solitude is the next level of creativity. How ironic to find it true again returning home to my love after being alone. I went to work with soon to be quashed renewed vigor and developed a new template based on my experience to govern my work. This manifested itself in a bold but tasty quark design pastry template that I have not used yet. Invitation au voyage Bangkok dangerous Asked to go on the next safari in Thailand. But I declined, since I am going to become a papa. And finally I make something relatively more important. Maybe next year. How much did you absorb on the way in or on the way out? Perhaps the parable reflects the actual life: to and fro. Hither and thither. Reconstructed evenings dangling in the moonlight.

great work team i am excited by the developments today i look forward to trying to knock your socks off tomorrow am good night for dinner i had a guiness

The way he's "talking" is actually making more sense to me, and is more understandable too than the op-eds each day in the newspapers on politics and politicians. THAT stuff makes no sense whatsoever no matter how you sort it out. Listen (or rather read) as if you were reading poetry. Don't try to understand it. Just hear the sound. Close your eyes and see what appears in your imagination. Oh. Yeah, have another bourbon too if you want. It's all understandable. The only question I have in my own mind is whether he is winking at us as he says it or whether the aura is solemn. ← very flattered i am quite serious regards personal philosophy in cuisine but if you cant smile reading big words about kit kats... truly i am not a brain surgeon if i did my job well some rich people got to feel better about themselves this uninteresting social dynamic is one of the reasons i made the jump ill wait until i can harmonize the beautiful and the register

this is a very interesting point regarding the origins of baby type food i think this also stems from a particular type of luxury concept where the act of work or acts of work are banished from the table small portions, easy to digest flavors, over service all have indicated great luxury and excess i dont think we should confuse luxury and profundity, nor should we disregard the history of gastronomy. it is essential to our understanding

tan i wrote the menus for the makwa dinners but thats neither here nor there i think that you are right to make the distinction and i am reassured by your interpretation of external influences in the creative process i was very lucky to work for albert as my third post and first on the pastry line and i am both blessed and damned to call el bulli my formative experience i think that albert and ferran collectively have demonstrated the viability of a professionalized creativity, among many contributions to the body of gastronomy what we at akwa are working towards is a commercialization of creativity across disciplines to help make the chef a real working artist craftsman that can be respected as a real professional with regards to the baby bottle, maybe i have gone down the wrong road there is no bottle, just the nipple is essential forgive the vulgarity there is no restaurant and there are no plates there is only a virtual island with an unwritten rule book

unfortunately, there probably will not be photographs

mr shaw i am woefully ignorant as to the properties of transfats but would appreciate an explanation so that i could adequately respond in harmony with the blog

Sounds like a university pub to me ... especially if one was waiting for the ladies room! How does this translate to cuisine?? A. ← first let me say that i am humbled by the great dialogue unfolding with regards to awakening, i feel that distinction is critical the adult must make a conscious choice to revert for this reason i feel comfortable describing this line of evolution as both profound and exponentially more complex. the adult must have reached a state of no mind harmony in which he or she can act freely and powerfully in order to be capable of such a personal revolution from the previous logic one has moved across lines of ingredient, technique and philosophy to govern cuisine, found love to unify these axes, then labored in solitude to refine "creativity" on less sure footing i argue that shame ensues, partly from an embarrassment of egotism, partly because of an awareness of the power to avoid burning the chariot phaethon could have just admitted his frailty the ability to reset ones mind at any age can only be seen to be an incredible potential

i would argue that the infant stage is actually more advanced and profound than the current state of consciousness. the point is that the infant is more creative, more capable precisely because of the lack of external influence than the jaded adult who knows what they knows

Terry cloth bibs with dessert for all the patrons and the milk in the baby bottles should be served warm. The waitstaff can test the temperature of the milk on their wrists before serving. Or perhaps have the waitstaff spoon feed the dessert to the bibbed patrons while making "nummy" sounds or whispering out a hushed "Here comes the airplane!". ← i am not sure that infantilizing the process is necessary for a memory experience but i also have a sense of humor about the prospect; i think that serving a dessert like this in a restaurant would be awkward the dynamic is just not right this is something more personal perhaps appropriate for a private event at the same time, it raises the question: in what way the relationship between food and sense memory be explored in the current context of the restaurant; and what other more appropriate venues would be desirable

Ah, of course....the nonlinear approach is the ticket! Where's Hunter S when we need him? ← Dead. ← hes not dead hes just not taking any calls right now

I was thinking the same thing. I believe this may be a little to inside for us commoners ← I think that a Sierra Nevada Pale Ale is necessary as a grounding influence. my wife reminded me that there is a fine line between the sublime and the ridiculous. it is quite likely that the ideas so clear in my head and so simple, are totally incomprehensible without any context. I appreciate your patience with regards to my incoherence. I made the transition from restaurant pastry chef to full time father in February, and since then I have been working on numerous ideas, including working as a personal chef to develop a patron relationship, developing a theory of creativity as a foundation for my work, designing a line of chocolate, but mostly to take care of my daughter Loulou as best as possible. My work for desserts has always been somewhat problematic in the same way this forum may be; my ideas are not adequately described in a way that makes them commercially viable. It is possible that "conceptual" food is just not sellable, but I am confident in the public's ability to make a decision if given any relevant information. The dessert I am working on is for a cookbook. The cookbook is based upon a concept of five axes of creativity in the kitchen; I cannot go into complete detail at this time because an article with this theme will be published this fall. However the lines of my axes of creativity are no secret to anyone that I have worked with over the past five years: ingredient; technique; philosophy; love and solitude. I have been working to develop the next axes of creativity and have tentatively established the sixth as shame, and the seventh, lo and behold, is on the other end of the milk bottle in my hand. The infant, the child, the pure mind, the open book. In this context I am working to develop dishes/actions that can transport the client/customer/guest via sensory exploration. I identified the five most distinctive qualities of the infant and associated a prop with these: The social acceptability of sleeping when tired or bored: the pillow The proximity to the mother: the breast The constant feeding capacity: the bottle The security blanket The ability to use the "toilet" in any way shape or form at any time I did not find a suitable prop/partner for tears, but it could easily be rain water. The dish, or series of dishes is then prepared in a way that recalls the acts of the child: 1. A swiss meringue that is soft and protective like a pillow 2. A sun ripened fig that has the warmth and fuzzy glow of the mommy 3. The blanket which covers a favorite dish, and only the blanket is savored 4. The infantilization of drinking by using the baby bottle as a glass 5. The dynamic that stems from toilet deprivation I hope that this explanation is helpful, and appreciate your requests for elaboration. I think I need another beer.

i just woke up from my afternoon nap but the taste of my afternoon lunch is still quite vivid i went to my curry shack on lexington avenue and with my wife thoroughly assaulted the entire buffet: chicken tikka masala basmati rice spinach lentils both yellow and brown curried cauliflower beautiful naan bread two cups of chai i must say that the "fine dining" indian restaurants i have tried generally pale in comparison. I am not sure why but the meaning of the food seems to be lost in translation between the kitchen and the plate and the guest. Anyone have a feeling why that is?

Im working on a series of dishes/actions that would function as a memory driven dessert. Part three Renouvelation from the outside in Or how to use baby props to preprepare the mind for reinfancy Exhibit one The pillow Step one Prepare a swiss meringue in the traditional style Next steps in stream of consciousness as appropriate for the author Aka laziness or intense lack of discipline that can only be described as infantile Thankfully appropriate With small offset palate knife apply swiss meringue liberally around the perimeter of the serving vessel Serve immediately Note, for those souls who don’t immediately recognize the purity of the snow white aeration, feel free to blow torch the surface towards cremation to show your true feelings regarding their potential Exhibit two The breast Granted this is difficult to simulate as truly there is no recreation that can generate the plump perfection of a ripe breast Or is the answer in the fig Step one Find a voisin with a fig tree Step two Analyze the schedule of the voisin to determine when he or she will not be home Step three When following carefull planning you are confident that neighbor is away calmly proceed to rob as many figs as you can stuff into your shirt. Step four After said thievery, arrange your figs in direct line of sunlight, carefully adjusting the position to coincide with the solar rotation. Step five Wait patiently until the figs are gorged with sun to the point of explosion enjoy Exhibit three The blanket Step one Identify the favorite dish of your most esteemed guest Step two Prepare this dish with great fanfare Eg “what a lovely coq au vin I have prepared,” Step three As per the natural course of the meal present such coq au vin in a coq au sein or silk blouse. Step four Allow the guest to remove the blouse only with the penalty of having the dish removed suddenly without a moment to savor its penetrating aromas and sensual appearance Step five Wait for your guest’s response Step six Will depend upon result of step five Exhibit four The bottle Prepare classic cocktails and serve them in baby bottles Exhibit five The absence of toilet Less unusual in climates Midwestern the recipe for toilet disregard is superbly without complication Step one Lock the bathroom doors Step two Serve copious amounts of alcohol and water Step three Make your getaway from the mise en scene of the crime with due haste Step four Research little black book for alternate dinner guests for following semaine

quelle nightmare

its possible that this would compete with the lingering taste and texture of my zone diet bar, so you can see its more than a quagmire, its an enigma wrapped inside a pandora's box

Think you should have both, but hold the cheese on the bacon-and-egg sandwich (salt, pepper, butter, toasted roll, bacon well done, eggs fried break the yolk). And a Twix for dessert. generally both is better than one or the other, but i feel strongly that the american cheese component of the bacon egg and cheese make for a more desirable mouthfeel than the buttered roll, so therefore, i can clearly not choose the roll in front of me on the other hand, the stromboli will also offer a cheese option therefore potentially repetitious and detrimental to the palates ability to recover, so i can clearly not choose the stromboli in front of me

i never eat dessert after breakfast