International Agenda for Great Cooking

[weinoo]

This month's issue of Food Arts (March, 2007) reports on the document entitled International Agenda for Great Cooking, as a "milestone manifesto," dictated to and crystallized by Harold McGee.

I read it with great interest, as it contains many thoughts that to me, at least, are so important in today's culinary world. It is written as a statement that "will be useful to all people with an interest in food, but especially to our younger colleagues, the new generations of food professionals."

Some examples:

"The world of food has changed a great deal in modern times. Change has come especially fast over the last decade. Along with many other developments, a new approach to cooking has emerged in restaurants around the globe, including our own. We feel that this approach has been widely misunderstood, both outside and inside our profession...

Our cooking values tradition, builds on it, and along with tradition is part of the ongoing evolution of our craft...

We embrace innovation - new ingredients, techniques, appliances, information, and ideas - whenever it can make a real contribution to our cooking...

We do not pursue novelty for its own sake. We may use modern thickeners, sugar substitutes, enzymes, liquid nitrogen, sous-vide, dehydration, and other nontraditional means, but these do not define our cooking. They are a few of the many tools that we are fortunate to have available as we strive to make delicious and stimulating dishes...

The fashionable term 'molecular gastronomy' was introduced relatively recently in 1992, to name a particular academic workshop for scientists and chefs on the basic food chemistry of traditional dishes. That workshop did not influence our approach, and the term 'molecular gastronomy' does not describe our cooking, or indeed any style of cooking..."

So - should we stop using the term molecular gastronomy?! Does this bust some bubbles? Let's hear from those who embrace this brave new world!

If someone can post a pdf of this piece, it's really a great read!

There's also a fun piece by Michael Ruhlman in this same issue of FA.

[chefAZ]

The fashionable term 'molecular gastronomy' was introduced relatively recently in 1992, to name a particular academic workshop for scientists and chefs on the basic food chemistry of traditional dishes.  That workshop did not influence our approach, and the term 'molecular gastronomy' does not describe our cooking, or indeed any style of cooking..."

So - should we stop using the term molecular gastronomy?!  Does this bust some bubbles?  Let's hear from those who embrace this brave new world!

←

Yes. Please. For Gods Sake stop using that term! Molecular Gastronomy is not a style of cooking!!!

Everyone here on E-Gullet should be educated on this!!!

[tan319]

Man, I keep going on about ArtCulinare. The "manifesto" printed above by weinoo is in AC#82 also, a print out of it handed out to the writers of the AC piece

that features an article called "5 Days in Barcelona" where the writers go to, amongst many others, El Bulli where Ferran Adria asked anybody to show him an article where him or Alberto mentioned molecular gastronomy ( of course, there are none except this actually) in a sentence.

Ferran good naturely suggested everybody has to have a catchy term to hang on things, this was one somebody hung out on THEIR shingle, a marketing phrase.

Yes they use Gellan and lecithen the way most use ketchup and mustard but it's all food in the end.

Edited March 7, 2007 by tan319 (log)

[edsel]

At least part of this was published in the Guardian: Statement on the 'new cookery' (Linked on Ruhlman's blog)

[jayrayner]

At least part of this was published in the Guardian: Statement on the 'new cookery' (Linked on Ruhlman's blog)

←

I do believe we ran the entire statement.