Carrot Top

Ah. Everyone is an authority, like on the internet, huh? Useful in terms of outsider art, certainly. But I still think there are strong bastions drawn from inside to define, include or exclude. And Adria made it past those bastions (and even did it in his lifetime ) That, to me, says "something".

Having been among the art world for some years where vision, craft and edibility ( ) are all important to those seeking to be accepted and/or have their works sold . . . and having been a chef where vision, craft, and edibility meant that you earned the title or not, I can't see my way to what you describe above except as a philosophic comment that is useful to the performer but not useful at all to those he/she is performing for.

There's no exact emoticon to render my feelings on this and I hesitate to use words. Must be some strong kool-aid indeed. I had no intention of reading this book as it just isn't within the realm of things I really like to read but now it must be confessed I will be looking for it at the library just to read of the (rather unbelievable) scenes you describe above. I really wish you hadn't told us about that.

You make an excellent point. There are two things going on (at least ) here - the doing of a thing and then whether that thing gets acknowledged both in present time and in the future, and what ways the thing gets acknowledgement. The initial post noted that by inclusion in this art show, Adria had been acknowledged as an artist. Will his name and work remain in the canon of art, acknowledged in the future? ........................................ It would be interesting to do a fine-toothed comparison of what Marinetti did and how he did it as opposed to what Adria is doing and how he is doing it. Marinetti was not a chef, as is Adria so his work did not spring from the kitchen exactly, which is where Adria's does. It's been a very long time since I read "The Futurist Cookbook". I remember it as being rather awe-inspiring.

But how many people would agree that "The Futurist Cookbook" remained as a living part of either the canon of art or of the canon of cuisine I wonder, John. Many people in both fields have never even heard of it. Perhaps this is a problem inherent in crossing boundaries - in being a bastard one can be left behind or discarded when the "serious scholars" define the canons.

"Location, location, location", huh, hummingbirdkiss? Could be. I've had clams with extremely varied levels of grit, too, from both digging and buying. In this case, though, the chowder he wanted to make was supposed to be not the most lovely idea of chowing down with friends who don't care too much if a piece of grit attacks them (which to my mind is the best scenario to be in for comfort and fun) but he wanted to impress the people he was making the chowder for with his cooking skills. As in, perfection displayed - no imperfections allowed. In this case, I think all precautions need be taken to avoid any risk. When I posted this last night, I was a little peeved for when he called me to ask how I made chowder (and what parts of the clams to use, even, the center part or the edges! ) while at the same time telling me he had passed a test on it at the Culinary Institute, he also became angry at me when I started off by saying "First you purge the clams". "I call you for a recipe and now you're telling me I've got to do all this heavy sh*t!" was his loud angry comment. I never really considered purging clams to be heavy sh*t, so I was rather thrown. Oh. Yeah. This is who I used to be married to.

Yesterday after reading paulraphael's post (ha, ha, I just hit the wrong keys and wrote "poem" by mistake ) the questions of whether art is something that can be made for mass consumption or not started bothering me. As in: the idea of an individual work such as a painting - if it were copied for more than one person to hang in their home, then would only the original work be art or would all of the pieces be art (allowing that the initial piece was considered art to begin with ). For this is the situation (aside from the conceptual part) that Adria or any other chef's work faces in being considering as within the realm of art. The concept must be consistently executed over and over again for the mass production of plates coming from the kitchen for diners. Of course Warhohl addressed this question with his silkscreens and stretched the idea of pop art in the answer that was received, but the question does still remain in more traditional forms of art. The other question is interesting, too, that victornet raises about time art and theatre. My feeling has always been that the work of a chef as displayed in a restaurant of a certain level and sort is the closest thing one can find to theatre. Audience-interactive theatre, to be sure. Adria, with a strong hand as creative composer/performer, has less of this interactive reliance than most who may strive towards the realm of art within restaurant/chef as his work (or food) is standing there shimmering, unassailable in concept from wherever one stands within the workplace, the theatre, the restaurant, the studio, the living museum. He has written a circle around his work with his writings (as the writings head towards places philosophic) and what his work does, it does in a way that those who love it love it with passion, in its very real incarnations that can be tasted, seem, smelled, felt, heard, devoured. I think he must be an excellent chess-player, too.

I just got a phone call from someone asking about using clams they had just dug (some large ones) for a chowder. He wanted to check his recipe with me and when he did there was one thing I do that he claims he never did (when he learned how to make clam chowder from the CIA which he has a degree from). I told him to scrub the clams and to soak them overnight in salt water with a handful of cornmeal so that they would disgorge excess sand and grit. He says that you don't have to do that. Instead he was taught to make clam stock without this process being done, then simply to leave the sandy grainy bits in the bottom of the stock pan when straining the stock for the chowder. We'll see how his chowder turns out (he's making it now). I think he was using clams that already had been through this disgorging process at the purveyors they were purchased from when he was being taught this at the CIA and either was not told this needs to be done or maybe simply did not hear it. It seems to me that all the sand and grit will not come out with a simple simmer to make stock. Any thoughts? Have I been babying my clams too much all these years?

I'm curious as to whether anyone has made corned beef in both this one-process way (with the quick-cure salt) and in the other two-part process way (brining/pickling the meat in a salt/sugar solution for a good long time before removing from the brine then seasoning with the spice mixture for several days) and what (if any) differences in taste or texture exist . . .

I found that there were lots of parts I just wasn't in the mood for at the time and had set it aside for awhile, too. Maybe it's time now to take another gander. Do write in and tell what your favorite stories were from it . . .

My two favorite photographs on your site are the empty dinner table and the menu board (not the hand-written one), Michael. There's such a hint of time being suspended in the blink of the camera's eye, with a subtle sense of almost-foreboding but not exactly . . . just a mystery of darkness that lurks behind the scene, a drama of huge proportions that mere humans might not have the ability to discern as they look in their usual way, with their usual sort of eyes. Sparks of memories of the great old still film-makers seem to lie in these photographs, where the image was primal, huge and all-engrossing to the point of exclusion of sound by requirement. And a touch of bete-noir but with a seething elegance rather than dirt-encrusted nails. Not just images but entire stories in the composition. Not a bite but a tale. Wonderful.

Could be so. It was the staple meal of every "large-group" function for some number of years where the food was made by non-professionals. Chicken a la King on noodles, on rice, in puff-pastry tarts . . . and was a favorite for caterers too for wedding receptions that wanted "something safe". A fine entrance into marriage - a "safe" dinner. It becomes quite dangerous after that dinner for all the ensuing time. ........................................ Did your son enjoy the Chicken a la King, Glorified Rice? I think my kids probably would.

What's astonishing is what a bad rep Chicken a la King has developed over the years. It probably has as bad a rep or even worse than most County Commissioners.

From "Rare Bits, Unusual Origins of Popular Recipes" (Ohio University Press 1998) author Patricia Bunning Stevens offers the information that although "Chicken a la King" is often associated with James Keene (Claridges, after his horse won the Grand Prix) or Foxhall E. Keene (Delmonico's, Wall Street broker) with the presumption that the name softened into "a la King" over time, that a better case can be made for a fellow named E. Clark King who owned The Brighton Beach Hotel when it was a fashionable resort for Manhattanites around the turn of the 20th century. George Greenwald, the chef, put the dish together one night and offered it to E. Clark King and his wife for dinner who liked it very much. They then put it on the menu as "Chicken a la King" at the price of one dollar and twenty five cents. So your presumption is correct, Glorified Rice. For we know that all vacationing Manhattanites are kings. P.S. That's funny, SB. We were both answering the question at the same time.

Unless you're from Maine. In that case, you have to eat B&M Baked Beans. Or they'd have to kill you.

True, true. It is better when the taste of good food pursues you. I never got through it either, anina marcus. Finally gave it to a new home. "Stuffed", huh? Suddenly I'm hungry.

Those burn scars do heal. It does take time, though. I have several from a long time ago, from pouring searing hot butter onto my upper arm when a large sheetpan filled with filo-based strudels tipped sideways when I was taking it out of a big convection oven that was taller than I was. There were two large white stripes sticking out of my freckles for about ten or twelve years or so. It was something useful to entertain children with at the time though (as kids think this sort of thing is really cool and gross) along with the usual trick of showing them how to (pretend) remove their thumbs.

You are both brave and good to do this, Ellen, regardless of whether you were looking for a new living situation or not. I think that it will be more difficult for you to deal with the issues of his health, particularly the dementia, long-term - than it will be for you to deal with the cooking part (my opinion is based on having been around more than one elderly person who suffered from dementia along with Alheimer's etc.). The foods that he enjoys, the canned foods and the familiar flavors . . . whether it is not-as-good-tasting or quality as fresh . . . are something that he has to hold on to as a firmament of who he is while some other things are slipping away. It may be that he will try some new things, but there may be times when he simply does not want to. I hope that you will find a "care-givers" course or group in your area to be with if you want to while you are doing this, as it is not just nothing, this part of it. ............................. Oh. Yeah. Sorry. Here's more: Scallops in Bacon Rice Pudding Strawberry Shortcake Blueberry Pie I wonder if he would like Blintzes?

As Margo just said - get your hands on a copy of the Fannie Farmer cookbook (AKA Boston Cooking School). Every New Englander is issued a copy at birth. ← Or James Beard's "American Food" which I don't have a copy of anymore but which is stock-full of this type of recipe. .................................. I may have to borrow your guy, Ellen. My file keeps churning out more ideas. Strange. I hope this is the end of it. Creamed Mushrooms on Toast Grilled Bologna Sandwiches Sole or Flounder Stuffed with Crabmeat Chicken Noodle Soup (Maybe) Spinach Salad (small portion) Wilted, with Bacon and HB Egg. Served with Cornbread Potato Pancakes with Applesauce and Sour Cream Chicken Chausseur Meatloaf Peas in any way Carrots in any way Peas and Carrots together in any way Devilled Ham Sandwich Coddled Eggs with Toast (some fresh snipped herbs and cream on top perhaps?) Phew. Wierd. I have no ideas where these ideas are coming from. Maybe all these years I have been an old (New England) guy myself just masquerading as me.

I seem to have a built-in file of old-guy New England recipes in my head. Welsh Rabbit Stuffed Peppers Pot Roast with Mashed Potatoes and Gravy (made with Lipton's Onion Soup and Cambells' Cream of Mushroom Soup spread on the roast as it cooks ) Sauerbraten with Red Cabbage and Potato Dumplings Spaetzle Fruit Cobblers Apple Crisp BLT Egg Salad Sandwich (you might be able to add a touch of curry here, Ellen ) Country Captain Cold Poached Salmon with Mustard Mayo - plain cucumber and tomato slices to garnish Shrimp Cocktail Shrimp Salad Stuffed Tomatoes Potato Soup Shrimp in Lobster Sauce

Vegetable Soup Corn Chowder Senate Bean Soup Popovers Well-Chopped Chef's Salad Waldorf Salad Baked Glazed Ham Succotash New England Boiled Dinner (pronounce that "dinnah", please ) Codfish Cakes

I can't believe you found that! Fantastic name, isn't it.

Eh. Baited and hooked I was, and the worm was worth it. Fabulous story, Rogov. Oh my heart hurts. Yes, yes, the idea exactly! Impetuous fellow, wasn't he. Determined to strike the last blow, too. I have to admit being curious as to what he looked like. Mmm. The Right Thing to Do, absolutely. And I have to admit there is nothing as wonderful as being an executive chef with a more-than-ample budget. Kissing chefs brings you closer to heaven, you know - as well as does bringing nice young women good things to eat. The challenges of cooking (and dining) "fully kosher" are certainly challenging in many ways. I can only speak as an outsider, with great respect for it being done (as Fat Guy noted in his post):

As with many things, it's how you look at it. Our culture in the United States is very different from many other cultures where the concepts of what children are and what they are supposed to do and be takes a different shape. Our concepts of the places that both old people and children can inhabit in the fullness of our lives has taken a very different shape. We tend to outsource rather than to gather close. My concept of this whole thing had a different shape when I was in my twenties and thirties, it had a different shape before I had my own children, it had a different shape before I had the chance to travel to and live in different countries that had alternate ways of composing their lives in these categories of children and old people. Our concept of family is very different than many other places, and that has an affect on how this plays out. Our support systems are different (or in some cases, nonexistent as compared to other places). The interesting thing about setting people into groups is that sooner or later, if one happens to fall into the group that one is setting into a particular form of desired/designed behavior - one will then have to face living up to the rules one has idealized as right for others. And of course, no path is ever as clear-cut when one has to face it themselves. Children, old people who are not as attractive as they were when young, sick people who are not as pleasant to be around as when they were healthy - we all can be these things or can have to deal with these things at the drop of an unexpected hat (though youth sometimes does not see this as clearly as those who carry more years). Whatever it is that a person votes for someone else to have exclusion from, they may have to face living that exclusion at some time in their lives themselves, whether they like it or not.

You must have forgotten two important sayings, sazji, due to lack of sleep. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder and Pretty is as pretty does. Dangerous kitchen activity perhaps, but certainly not unbecoming.