Silly Disciple

Michel Bras and Marc Veyrat I think too.

off the top of my head: Thomas Keller Santi Santamaria Ferran Adria Joan Roca (I think)

I've recently heard from a good source that these people are getting into trouble because many of the things they sell and claim to be organic are not so. Unfortunately I can't think right now of a place which distinguishes itself for great salads. Between Can Fabes and L'Esguard I would choose Can Fabes, I think it has a higher probability of being a more memorable meal than L'Esguard. I've been recently hearing several "offline" comments that speak very good of the current state of affairs at Santi Santamaria's restaurant. Gaig or Comerç... depends on whether you want more classic (Gaig) or more modern (Comerç).

what do you mean by the "true" recipe?

a quick google search yields this recipe.

what do I know, I'm not an italian scholar. I looked up the original article by Eco. Joking aside, I think the point is that the introduction and diffusion of a "new", simple tool (in this case, mass harvesting techniques) may allow for a much wider adoption than a more complex tool with maybe a higher "wow" factor, but a much lower contextual impact. Looking at it this way, is the microwave such a big innovation, compared for instance to pasteurization (I know, there's a time difference of over a century, but still) or deep freezing?

It wasn't. I have studied diffusion of innovation as part of my research work in social and complex networks, but I didn't know about this book until now. I will definitely take a look at it now. thanks for the reference. I think it was Italian scholar Umberto Eco who said that, despite our appreciation for complex inventions and machines such as television, the microchip, etc., the biggest tech innovation of this past millenium has been the cultivation and harvesting of legumes, ie beans, peas and lentils. Without them, Europe's population wouldn't have made it past the XII century.

I haven't been around long enough to have witnessed how innovation has been adopted from avant garde cookeries to the average joe's home. I remember my mother buying all the newest and latest gadgets, but can't really say much about the underlying innovation that was taking place then. However, it seems that this era has brought (and is bringing) a new and better understanding of what we eat and how it affects us. Molecular Gastronomy is not only about gels and foams. As anyone who has read McGee's book can confirm, it is about understanding what processes affect what we eat and how it affects it. One could claim that advances in science are continuous, and this hasn't happened overnight, and that adoption of new techniques and products is as old as home cooking. However, what I think is new is that these advances in science are now fashionable, and are being slowly adopted not only by the Ferran Adria's of the world but by educated cooks who are not only interested in novel ways of cooking but also in better and healthier treatments. It wouldn't be unreasonable to claim, based on what we believe nowadays, that a coliflower puree thickened with agar-agar and olive oil is healthier than a potatoes and butter one. Yet lots of people regard agar agar and other "novel" products as misterious, sometimes associating them with chemicals, and thus unhealthy. Personally, I'd much rather have an agar-agar based puree than anything coming out of a can, but this possibly because I have some understanding of the products in question. Moreover, some techniques seem prone to wide adoption once it's workings and consequences have been fully understood and properly disseminated, ie. if we understand the nature of bacteria growth, it wouldn't be hard to adopt a home-kitchen version of sous-vide, I think. Other techniques, with no clear benefit other than wow factor (ie liquid nitrogen) seem to me more of a fad destined maybe to a diffusion at the "trendy restaurant" level rather and a wider one. And this seems only one side of the coin: globalization has made it possible for any cook anywhere to offer products from remore regions in pristine conditions. These days I can buy Bolivian quinoa, which we know believe to be extremely healthy, as well as fresh italian Mozarella, which we know believe not to be bad as we thought before. And forgotten products are being re-adopted again (possibly on account of their modern "rarity" status), but seem also as good candidates for wider adoption. I am thinking in this case of barley, for instance. I would be interested to read what others think of these phenomena.

that's fascinating Nathan. Can you comment on the resulting texture of one piece of meat vs. the other after cooking sous vide?

From Amazon's book description: (emphasis mine) The book is being marketed as a true story, no fiction of any type. The way I see it, in a particular section of the book Mr. Psaltis apparently (I haven't read it) tells his version of his experience at TFL. Some people in the forum ask him for more details. Mr. Psaltis then explains a situation of (mild) physicial violence which according to him was one of the reasons of his departure from TFL. Then, several so-called informed readers suggest they've heard otherwise and press Mr. Psaltis for confirmation. I don't see any particular gain Mr. Bourdain, Mr. Ruhlman , Bux or others may obtain by bringing forward what they may have heard. They have, in my view, an established credibility. And I don't see any reason to attack them as messengers. Whether some people like it or not, Mr. Keller is admired by many people and has an established reputation and credibility as well. Thus, I think that to speculate on whether his best people where in NY opening Per Se or TFL was having a bad time while Mr. Psaltis was there is not only besides the point, but moreover seems to offend those who admire Mr. Keller. In the same line, the discussion on whether physical violence should or should not be condoned is besides the point as well. The point, I think, is Mr. Psaltis credibility being put into question by rumours that have not been confirmed nor denied so far. Since he is the one, at this particular time, with the less established reputation, the way I see it, the ball is in Mr. Psaltis court.

Sorry, my mistake... I misunderstood your question to John.

To bad because my meal at Martin last month was better then Arzak or Akalare or El Bulli, also just wondering why does almost everyone who goes to San Sebastian skip Martin. ← Not me, I can assure you. I've always believed that Martín is the best restaurant in the area and one of the best in the country. ← Thanks for the tip, it will be Martin next time. Doc did you try Berastegui? ← As far as I know, Martin = Berasategui. one and the same.

I think from Adria's point of view, it's a simple equation. He does 8000 covers a year, who will be put through his latest culinary creations. As long as he has 8000 people willing to pay for it, what he likes to do is safe. Are you one of those 8000 people, and will you like food a bit less if he's a shill? Fine, but the question to me is more "does Adria care"? During our dinner at eB, I was surprised when I left half of one of the dishes untouched, no one asked me if something was wrong. This is indeed very strange for a 3-star. But it points to the fact (at least in my opinion), that what Adria has done is build an infrastructure that allows him to do culinary research, and has done it so effectively that he doesn't have to care about what people think. You don't want to go to eB because he sells crappy chips? Fine, someone else will. Moreover, those chips probably give him the financial security to be even more daring in his research, since failures won't wreck neither elBulli or the Ferran Adria brand. To me, he is pretty confident his contribution to the culinary body of knowledge (and quite possibly his net worth too) is worth some shilling. Actually I don't think he sees it as shilling, but rather a way to keep on doing what he does best. Despite what the rest of us might think.

John, let's assume the chips are awful, yet you keep on seeing that every review about elBulli is great. Would you stop going (or trying to go) there? Of course his brand looses if the product is bad, but in the end how does this affect what he really cares about?

Also, if I understood the EFF's article, eGullet would not be in the same position as google is regarding the strength of their "fair use" claim.

I don't find it hard to imagine at all. As I pointed before (and I think FG agreed), it is not unheard of at all for people to get fired if they are involved in kitchen fights. In my opinion your argument is slightly misleading. You "can imagine" a number of situations Mr. Psaltis describes in his book, and you add to it something that comes indeed from your own imagination, thus puting a factual account of the events by an involved party and your own non-facts at the same level. Again, your argument seems misleading to me. The fact that Mr.Bourdain and Mr.Ruhlman express their opinions here about Mr.Psaltis, based on information they apparently have, is, as far as the first hand information in this thread goes, not related at all to the opinions or PR maneuvers Mr.Keller might be involved in, yet you seem to imply that they are.

Yeah, I agree. It will at least be (yet another) interesting test of copyright law. Google is indeed taking steps to protect the material from being easily copied/printed, and while any fairly savvy user will find ways to scrap it, it seems it does put it out of reach for a big chunk of the audience.

Why would you find this something hard to believe? Maybe US law is more stringent in this sense, but I've heard first hand of several episodes of immediate dismissal here in Spain for (physical) fights in a kitchen during service.

Interesting albeit short analysis by Electronic Frontier Foundation's Fred von Lohmann. He basically points out that under the traditional four fair use factors, 3 favor google and one favors neither side. there's a further link to a paper by Jonathan Bland, which I haven't read yet.

Thanks Matthew for a very informative review. I am going to chez Bras in about three weeks time, and based on your report (and praying MobyP was there during an off-day and I won't) I would be inclined to order the "decouverte & nature". Would you say this is a wise choice for a first visit? Ours will be a party of 4, would it be wiser to order a la carte and share? Also, would you mind telling me how much did each meal set you back? Thanks.

I have the Hattori HD 24cm chef's knife, and it's in my "go to" set, along with the Tojiro 165mm Usuba and the Nenox G 100mm petty knife.

from the higher end stuff, I'd recommend the Hattori HD Series, the Nenox G Type or the Misono UX10's. From the not so expensive, I think you can't beat the price/quality ratio the Tojiro DP and DP Layered Damascus. and fisherman, trust me, Shun are nothing compared to these knives.

Take a look at Japanese Chef's Knives, they ship worldwide from Seki, Japan. Shipping is 7 USD, you get your knives in 3 days, and the quality and brands they sell is much higher than the usual Globals or Shuns. I've ordered several times from them, and got me a nice set by now.

Actually this reads to me more of a "being ironic to the point of making fun of someone's remarks" rathen than a proper refutation, but hey, that's just me. I will again say (I already said this once) that my previous remarks were inaccurate, and that my original intention was to claim the following, if you think you can live with this statement: "Despite the fact that Spain produces several times more olives (about 133, I've been told by unrefutable sources) than Argentina, some Spanish firms buy and possibly process part of the Argentinian production, for unkown purposes to me."

I heard this rumor too, but then my brother ran into the maitre who said it was false... who to believe? I can't say.