slkinsey
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A brilliantly executed old-style recipe can be great, but ultimately the chef isn't creating anything. It's like someone today writing a brilliantly-executed composition "in the style of Mozart."
If I make a perfect pizza -- I am creating -- I am creating a pizza.
I can't say it any clearer than that.
This is semantics, and I have to think you're bring a little disingenuous in not getting my point. You may have "created" a pizza in the physical sense, but not in the conceptual sense.
So, if you make a perfect pizza you are perhaps "creating" in the sense that you're making something, but I think it's quite clear that I have not used that sense of the word in this discussion. Rather, I have used the latter sense, of conceptual creation. If you make a perfect pizza margherita, you are not conceiving anything, you are not inventing anything, you are not putting your own imprint on anything and doing something that is uniquely your own. Rather, you are simply following a recipe or idea that someone else conceived/invented/etc. and skillfully reproducing it. Now, this may mean that you're an ace pizzaiolo, but you're not going to be remembered as "one for the ages" because you didn't really contribute anything significant in the world of pizza. You can't be compared to the guy who invented the pizza margherita, even if your execution is better than his, because he conceived something and you only copied something.
Conceiving is significant -- copying is not. Setting trends is significant -- following them is not. I don't think you will find that the chefs who are considered to be at the top of the game (or, indeed, most anyone at the top of most any business) are copiers and followers.
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Dude... you're going to Lubbock?! Interesting town. Very flat.
On a more serious note, I have a number of relatives in/around there and will inquire. You can check out the Best of Lubbock web site, but it's pretty grim... to the extent that I thought some of the entries were jokes (Best Sandwich: Subway, Best Pizza: Pizza Hut, Best Seafood: Red Lobster). Better might be the Lubbock Restaurant Guide. Your best bet is probably Q at someplace like Bingham's Smokehouse or County Line Barbeque.
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When you consider a chef as a performer, he is normally like a conductor of an orchestra; sometimes one can conduct from the piano, but generally the conductor doesn't play an instrument. A conductor is a performer, so I don't agree with your argument that Ducasse is not a performer.
The question is which is more significant, the composing or the conducting. I would suggest that the composing is more important. Plenty of great composers also conducted their works, some were even great conductors. Mahler comes to mind as a composer who was also a great conductor. But, ultimately, Mahler's greater contribution to Music and Art, and greater genius, is found in his composition. Similarly, I would argue that the "conductor" aspect of Ducasse's cuisine is not as important as the creative aspect. To be sure, he has to have certain managerial skills in order to arrange for his conceptions to be executed at a certain level. But without the genius of the compositions, all the execution in the world doesn't really equal brilliance so much as it does competence.
I think we're talking at cross-purposes here. There is a difference between brilliantly executed food and brilliantly concieved food. One needs the former to appreciate the former, but the former alone is not necessarily something that says "top of the world chef" to me -- and it is this class of chef of which we are talking here. A brilliantly executed old-style recipe can be great, but ultimately the chef isn't creating anything. It's like someone today writing a brilliantly-executed composition "in the style of Mozart." I mean, it's nice and all that the piece is in the style of Mozart, and maybe it sounds nice too, but in the final analysis it's just not significant and it's not a musical or artistic achievement of any importance. The 21st century composer who builds his career writing pieces "in the style of Mozart" will not be considered one of the top composers.
Even though I am a performer (some would saym an "interpretive artist") myself, I have always felt that the creative act was more significant than the interpretive act. Similarly, I don't think a chef-performer is as significant as a chef-composer.
I also don't think it is an insult to be compared to Pollini, rather than Beethoven, or to be compared to Callas rather than Bellini. I assume you don't either
Actually, if I were a composer and someone said, "you write as well as Callas" --yes, I would consider it an insult.
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I'm not sure it follows that wine markups are so much more than food markups or less justified. Consider this... Babbo sells a primo of "linguine with clams, pancetta and hot chilis" for 20 bucks. Here is a recipe for the same dish. A serving for one includes 1/4 pound of boutique linguine, 1/4 pound of clams, 1/8 of a medium red onion, 1/16 pound pancetta, 1 clove of garlic, 2 tablespoons evoo, 1 teaspoon crushed red chiles, 1/2 cup white wine, 1 tablespoon unsalted butter and 1/16 cup chopped parsley. Looking at retail prices, let's say a buck for the pasta at Zabar's, a buck-fifty for the clams and 50 cents for the pancetta at Citarella, and let's call it another buck for everything else combined. Total food cost: 4 dollars (and this is being very generous, since these are top retail prices -- the actual food cost to Babbo is likely </= 1 dollar). Markup: 500%.
Now, some value is added in the kitchen, you say? Okay. How much? Is the kitchen adding five times the cost of the food? Is it five times better than you can do at home? Or, might it be the case that the 500% markup includes other costs that figure into your restaurant experience?
Part of what I gather Craig was saying applies here. I am quite confident that most of us here could make the abovedescribed pasta dish just as well as they do at Babbo for a fraction of the cost. But you pay more to have the dish prepared by an expert and served in a nice setting, etc. Likewise, you pay to have someone serve you a bottle of wine in primo condition, that they have helped you match with the food, and that you consume in a nice setting, etc. -- all this for a smaller markup most of the time. The value added by the restaurant may not be as apparent as it is when a cook shakes your clams in a saute plan, but energy and money are nevertheless expended in selection, storage, glassware, etc.
I certainly don't claim to be an expert on the wine business, but I am given to understand that running a wine program is a lot more expensive than one might think. Just having the wines on hand, and employing someone to help you select them can be quite expensive. Not to mention that all the costs which figure into the food markup (rent, maintenance, linens, dishwashers, etc.) figure into the wine markup as well. I also don't observe that places like Babbo are generally charging a 500% markup on their wines. Personally, I am much more taken aback by the markup on twelve dollar cocktails than I am 100 dollar bottles of wine.
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I'll address a few points here...
First, one does have to make a distinction between the "composer" and the "performer" in the kitchen. There are some people who conceive the food, and others who execute it. As I think most people understand by now, Alain Ducasse, etc. do not do all that much cooking, if any, in their restaurant kitchens. So, understanding that, being able to execute the "classics" at a reasonably high level makes one a competent cook, but not exactly a creative force in the kitchen. These individuals are not likely to be the titans of the restaurant world in any country.
This is the sense in which I think it is appropriate to compare a top restaurant chef with a composer rather than a performer. So, Mongo, your point was not well made with respect to Verdi not having to recompose Aida every night. Alain Ducasse doesn't have to reconceive the dishes at AD/NY every night either. He concieved them once, and thereafter supervised his staff in the execution of those conceptions -- in fact, as we know, most of the time he doesn't even do that. So, to a certain extent post-conception supervision also contributes to the chef's legacy, but the conception has to be there first. Performance ability in the kitchen is a distant third. Perhaps in this sense a chef at this level might be more similar to a composer like Rossini, who supervised and conducted productions of his own compositions, occasionally making changes and additions to suit the resources at his disposal we well as changes in contemporary tastes. The rare top-level chef who actually does significant cooking might be compared to Mozart, who performed certain of his own compositions numerous times.
Now, when making this comparison, we are not talking about the scores of competent chefs who turn out excellent examples of tried-and-true dishes, following trends rather than setting them. These chefs might be more accurately compared to a Salieri or Paisiello -- excellent composer/performers in their own way, but whose efforts were ultimately overshadowed by those of Mozart and Rossini.
Balex, I think most anyone would tell you that the food is quite different in Naples today compared to 40 years ago. I can't necessarily speak for Tokyo or Bangkok (although I would be very surprized were it not true for Tokyo, and most likely it is true for both in the highest restaurants), but I think it's important to note that we're talking about Western cooking and a largely Western restaurant culture.
I don't think anyone is suggesting that a program of innovation for the sake of innovation is important. But, to be a chef of any importance and influence, it's important to develop one's own voice. Otherwise, you're just another one of those guys we've never heard of who sounded kind-of-but-not-quite-like Mozart.
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This sounds like a great combination, and I'm kicking myself for not thinking of it myself. It's so obvious! Will be trying this soonest with a nice strong-flavored gin and some Vya sweet vermouth.
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The seal is created by contraction of metal due to cold. The seal is loosened if the metal expands.
Notwithstanding the fact that your "10 second rest" method works, I don't think it's entirely for the reason you think. AFAIK, the seal is formed between the two parts because of the rapid cooling from shaking. Not only does the liquid in the shaker cool down, but the air cools down too. Knowing our friend Robert Boyle and his Law, we know that the pressure of the air will go down when it is cooled. This "negative pressure" is what causes the seal, rather than the metal of the Boston shaker contracting and forming the seal. The metal part may contract slightly, but this is due to the flexibility of the metal reacting to the difference in the internal and external pressures. Occasionally the cap on a three-part cocktail shaker will "seal up" for similar reasons. My guess is that the "10 second wait" method works because the gas inside the shaker warms up enough to weaken the seal within 10 seconds.
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As discussed in this thread, Wagner manufactures a "polished cast iron" pan where the interior of the pan has been machined so it is smooth. Many people I know prefer these pans above all others.
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Dude... the next time you come over, I'm making you an Aviation. I'll make a gin drinker out of you yet. I didn't have any maraschino liqueur, so I used gin, Cherry Heering and lemon juice. Great drink! AND I think I got the last two bottles of Cherry Heering in Manhattan.
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This won't be the first time people have said of me "We've created a monster!"
Was the first time what your parents remarked upon being told they had a healthy baby boy?
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Since his recent Q&A piqued my interest in acquiring another Gary Regan book, I picked up a copy of The Joy of Mixology the other day. Although there are things in there that will be of little interest to the amateur cocktail enthusiast, I thought it would make a great resource for beginners who have maybe one or two cocktails they like and want to branch out. To this end, there is a series of very interesting charts in the middle of the book where cocktails are grouped according to certain styles ("New Orleans Sours," "French-Italian Family" and so on). So, someone who really likes Cosmopolitans, for instance, can see that it's a "New Orleans Sour" made with citrus vodka, triple sec, cranberry juice and lime juice. Something closely similar would be a Rosebud cocktail made with grapefruit juice instead of cranberry. Or, moving a little further away but still closely related would be a Footloose cocktail, made with raspberry vodka, triple sec, lime juice and Peychaud's bitters. One could move from these vodka-based drinks to NO Sours with other base liquors, like the brandy-based Sidecar, the rum-based Mount Gay Rumrita or the Gin-based Pegu Club Cocktail. All told, around 25 other drinks which are fundamentally related to the Cosmopolitan to one degree or another.
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Andrea Strong has some good things to say about Landmarc in "The Strong Buzz" on April 3 (scroll down for Landmarc):
I also visited Landmarc this week, the debut restaurant from chef Marc Murphy and his wife Pamela Schein Murphy. Marc has been out of the spotlight for a while, having taken turns cooking (and wowing critics) at Cellar in the Sky (rest in peace), and at La Forchette, and so it is a pleasure to see him back in his whites, with buddy and chef de cuisine Frank Proto (formerly of Layla) turning out some seriously ambitious, but decidedly down-home rustic French and Italian fare.You will love eating at Landmarc. It is a high design space that is easy to slip into, never to leave.
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The main difficulty I experienced with mokas during my pre-Rancilio days is that they are too small for the typical American gas burner. This is to say that the flame was always significantly larger than the moka itsself, so you had to position the moka kind-of on the side of the burner. It was inetivable that you would end up heating the metal that forms the upper chamber. No matter what you did, there would be significant heat going up the side of the moka. With the "crema" models like the Brikka, which let all the water through in one go, if the top of moka got too hot the coffee would boil furiously as it shot out of the pipe and shoot all over the kitchen. I never had this problem in the kitchens of the various pensioni and appartamenti where I have stayed, because the burners were typically quite small.
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Looks like tough times ahead for New York's Italian restaurants.
Good! Hopefully this will inspire the Italian restaurants in the City to step up to the plate.
Another interesting question: given that the new reviewer presumably has an outlook that is not so married to the French restaurant model and might be more sympathetic to the Italian model, might we start seeing a break in France's stranglehold on the top rankings?
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Maybe this has been indicated somewhere and I missed it... are we sure that Asimov is, in fact, giving up "$25 and Under?" My understanding is that he has been reluctant to do give it up in the past (it's a bit of a franchise for him), and I'm not quite sure why he couldn't do that and the wine thing.
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Awwwwwwwwww yea! I have been to the mountan top. 6 shots of freshly roasted espresso. Sweetened condensed milk. Chocolate syrup. Plenty of ice. Shook it up in a cocktail shaker until the ice started breaking up and poured it into a glass. Delicious!
And I just want to say... if lovin' this iced coffee is wrong, I don't want to be right! It's sexual chocolate!
In other news... it's 11:30, I am not the least bit sleepy and... well, I don't mind telling you that I'm little jittery.
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How is Vietnamese Iced Coffee different Jason?
Basically, what you got is this little coffee brewer the Vietnamese use that sits over a coffee cup with condensed milk in it. Its brewed very strong and it takes like 10 minutes for it to drip into the cup. Once all the coffee essence is extracted, you mix it up with the condensed milk, yeilding a very sweet, very strong coffee(usually flavored with chickory) that is then poured over a glass of ice.
Yep. Mine is pretty much the same thing, only I use leftover press-pot coffee instead of brewing it in a special brewer. My press-pot coffee is very strong. The big difference is that I like to add a dollop of chocolate syrup. Sweetened condensed milk is key, though.
I just got in 20 lbs of Liquid Amber green beens from Sweet Maria's today, and I need to calibrate my new doserless Rocky grinder. This means pulling something like 10 shots. I predict a pretty awesome glass of iced espresso when I'm finished.
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This is an interesting topic for discussion, Stan, and I hope we see some dood debate here.
Certainly it is a fact that a chef's work normally has to evolve in order for that chef to continue to be current and currently great. I'm not sure that the underlying philosophy has to change, but the implementation of that idea has to grow.
It's much the same way with composers. Take Verdi, for example, he came up with one of the all-time best Italian operas ever, Rigoletto, fairly early on in 1851. Now, had he stuck with the style of Rigoletto for the rest of his compositional life (another 42 years!), the operas he was turning out in the late 19th century wouldn't be so interesting. This is not to say that Rigoletto wouldn't still be a great opera, or that Verdi wouldn't still have been one of the great composers of the 1850s -- but maybe he wouldn't be considered one of the great composers of the entire 19th century, or indeed of the entire classical tradition. Instead, he built on his underlying ideas about opera and drama and grew with them. Not only were his actual underlying ideas influenced by the overall changes in music and singing that were happening, but perhaps more importantly, the way he expressed those ideas in his compositions changed with the times. He continued to be relevant and current, while at the same time not changing his philosophies with every emerging trend.
This, in my opinion, is the kind of thing that a chef must do if he/she would like to continue to be great, to have relevancy and currency. A chef with unique and important ideas which are expressed a certain way in 1970 loses something if he continues to express his ideas through the same dishes in 1990. This is not to say that the 1970 dishes aren't still great... but they're not as great in 1990 as they were in 1970. To continue the example from above, if Verdi wrote an opera just like Rigoletto in 1871, it wouldn't be as great as it was in 1851.
So, looking at it that way, while is true that certain culinary philosophies have more long-term staying power than others, I am not sure that a chef's underlying philosophies have to evolve all that much. What does need to evolve is the expression of those philosophies. To make an example, one element of Batali's style is the glorification of offal and traditionally "poor" meats. This is a philosophy that can easily grow with the times, and can be just as current in ten years as it is right now. But, if the expression of his philosophy hasn't grown past the fennel-dusted sweetbreads, then I would say that his cuisine won't be as "successful" in 2014 as it is right now.
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They would be awesome with chicken or veal chops. Just roast 'em up at high temperature per FG above.
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This is probably a great application for cold-brewed coffee extract.
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It's getting warmer, and in Springtime a young man's fancy turns to iced coffee. Today I almost achieved iced coffee nirvana.
Tall Glass
Fill 2/3with leftover extra-strong presspot coffee
Add plentiful sweetened condensed milk
Add a slug of U-Bet chocolate syrup
Add ice
Stir
Enjoy
The two things that would improve on this, as I see it, would be frozen coffee cubes instead of ice, and some of that Ghirardelli chocolate syrup Alacarte pointed out. Some people like to use espresso as the coffee base, but at the volume I drink I'd be getting something like 14 shots per serving.
So...? How do you do it?
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Just a reminder, guys. This is a thread about Compass, not about Amanda Hesser. Please discuss the review here insofar as it concerns Compass. Go over to Food Media & News for broader discussion of Amanda Hesser's writing and reviewing skills, etc. There you will find any number of threads in which you can discuss such things.
Since we already had a problem with the Spice Market thread veering widely off topic and turning into an Amanda Hesser thread, I will be acting aggressively to keep this one on topic. I communicate this to you that, having due notice thereof, you may govern yourselves accordingly.
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Of course my famous sweet & sour red meatloaf glaze HAS horseradish in it,
Jaymes, is that glaze in RecipeGullet???
Edit: Ha! Found it! Famous Meatloaf Glaze by Jaymes
Well, it's famous in MY family anyway.
Oh, it's famous allright!
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Hmmm... interesting suggestion. I have to admit that I'm reluctant to try it because I never know where my brown bags have been (nor what chemicals might be in them) and I haven't thus far experienced a moisture problem (I bake to "just done through" temperature rather than to time).
THE BEST: Choucroute & Cassoulet
in New York: Dining
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Sounds awesome, JJ! I have to check that out. And, yea, that bartender is like, what, 8 feet tall? Good guy, too... turned me on to a nice grapefruit-flavored drink they're rolling out for Spring.