From Brazil, looking for someone to debate some ideas and cooking in general

[ACookFromBrazil]

Hi

I am a 19 year old gastronomy student, i have been training and studying on my for about four years, and plan on becoming a cook and eventually establishing my own restaurant. Recently i have been thinking on how to express complex ideas through culinary, if it is possible to take a certain vision of the world (from any kind of thinker) and translate to a dish or series of dishes - i will elaborate more in a postscript for anyone interested. Besides that, if you have any ideas you'd like to discuss or even just chat about cooking, please feel more than welcome to message me here or on my email 

[Host's note: Email address removed]

PS: I will try to summarize the concept that gave me the idea. Brazil has a huge territory, with very different climates, economic situations and ethnic groups, so, a few centuries ago, when it was being populated, one of the main questions was " How to we make such a diverse group of people feel like they all belong to this nation, how do we make tem feel like a family?". One of the answers, by the Brazilian thinker Alberto Torres, established that such bonds would be the result of the exploration of the territory. Essentially, the people of Brazil would come to recognize themselves as Brazilians through the endeavor that was settling the land. The ideia itself is of course much deeper, i just presented enough so i could talk about how i think it can be expressed through cooking. The way i imagined the composition of the dish is as follows: a base, representing the territory (probably yucca, the national ingredient of Brazil), with smaller elements distributed on top, each representing the main Brazilian ethnic groups (Portuguese, west Africans and Natives) and a sauce covering such elements to indicated their "integration" or "oneness". Naturally the ingredient chosen to represent the Natives would be of Native origin, and the one for the Portuguese and west African as well. Now, this ideia is simply an example of how i think it is possible to convey ideas through cooking, in no way i am stuck to Brazil or even sociology and history. This ideia may also be a little simple, i believe the concept can be pushed further. Anyway, I am interested in all kinds of expressions of ideas through food, if you are too let's talk.

[IndyRob]

4 hours ago, ACookFromBrazil said:

" How to we make such a diverse group of people feel like they all belong to this nation, how do we make them feel like a family?".

I think the way that food has helped in this regard is sort of the opposite -- How can we extend this family feeling (that we find in this particular village) to the rest of the country.

 

When it's done from the top down, you get something like Mussolini trying to promote rice over pasta for Italians.  It doesn't work.

 

But (in a U.S.A. oriented example) when you get people in Minnesota eating southern barbecue, or tex-mex food, you've made a strength of diversity.

[TdeV]

Hello Tia. I'm fascinated by your ideas. Looking forward to hearing you develop them.

Welcome to eGullet.

[liuzhou]

8 hours ago, ACookFromBrazil said:

if you have any ideas you'd like to discuss or even just chat about cooking, please feel more than welcome to message me here or on my email 

 

Your ideas are interesting but it is much better to chat here. That way other members can benefit from the discussion, even if they don't choose to take part.

 

Also, posting your email address on a public forum is the easiest way to get spam and viruses!

 

Edited February 19, 2021 by liuzhou (log)

[ACookFromBrazil]

1 hour ago, liuzhou said:

Your ideas are interesting but it is much better to chat here. That way other members can benefit from the discussion, even if they don't choose to take part.

 

Also, posting your email aaddress on a public forum is the easiest way to get spam and viruses!

 

 Indeed, i realize now my stupidity about the email. I will edit the post if possible, or simply take it down and re-post it without the address. 

 

And you are quite right about here being better for a chat, i was afraid i would get replies here and thought that maybe the email would get such replies.

3 hours ago, TdeV said:

Hello Tia. I'm fascinated by your ideas. Looking forward to hearing you develop them.

Welcome to eGullet.

Thank you

 

3 hours ago, IndyRob said:

I think the way that food has helped in this regard is sort of the opposite -- How can we extend this family feeling (that we find in this particular village) to the rest of the country.

I do agree with you, but that wasnt really the point i was trying to explore. My interest lies in if it is possible to express, and even critique, an idea. Let's take your Mussolini example, say you want to critique the policy he implemented through a dish ( what would naturally be a critique against fascism and authoritarianism ). My first idea of a composition here would be to present rice and pasta in the same plate or maybe one after the other. The rice would be prepared in such a say to be aggressive - which i link to sourness - or maybe even, trying to express sorrow, bitter. The pasta in the other hand would aim for comfort, umami, childlike flavors. If such preparation is possible, the question is "will someone enjoy eating it?". Because even though i am going against the most basic rule of cooking - that food should be pleasant - maybe if the guests are allowed to grasp the idea behind the dish the whole endeavor is worth it. Just like paintings eventually explored emotions like anger and sadness, could gastronomy do the same?

[Eatmywords]

It's so admirable you're already thinking about telling stories through your food.  Great chefs have been doing this for a long time. I don't think I have much to offer but I do remember a fantastic Chef's Table episode with Alex Atala that if you haven't seen I highly recommend (if you can access it) .  His quest to incorp local and obscure ingredients (even to Brazilians) was/is so inspiring and educational.  

 

trailer
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i7jtbVNRsyk

Interview
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3RdKiPxPiUY
 

[ACookFromBrazil]

14 hours ago, Eatmywords said:

It's so admirable you're already thinking about telling stories through your food.  Great chefs have been doing this for a long time. I don't think I have much to offer but I do remember a fantastic Chef's Table episode with Alex Atala that if you haven't seen I highly recommend (if you can access it) .  His quest to incorp local and obscure ingredients (even to Brazilians) was/is so inspiring and educational.  

Thank you  . The episode is indeed fantastic, Atala is certainly the one that made me turn my eyes to brazilian cuisine and focus on it. Since then i have found many other great brazilians cooks, but he was the first to inspire me.