If I never see another menu with a foam or dust on it I will be a happy person. Over the past few years we have an explosion of world class chefs who have decided that to cook one must have a biochemical laboratory as a kitchen. Centrifugal separation,
dehydrators (to make dust...go figure), liquid nitrogen, ah the list goes on and on.
Cooking, and especially baking, has always been a science. Our mothers, grandmothers and great grandmothers knew this. Mixing was always done in a clean bowl, don't get any egg yolk in your meringue mix, proving bread and much more. Good wholesome
food which was prepared in any kitchen with the minimum of tools.
Where did this fad of Molecular Gastronomy come from? Not from the regular folk that's for sure.
No, it came to us from from chefs with too much money and HUGE egos. They had to be the best, biggest the #1 in the world, and of course the world followed and hung on their every word. We therefore had chefs who had regular kitchens trying to prepare
these outrageous offerings.
I went to dinner one night at a local restaurant to see on the menu a steamed potato served on "dirt".
Didn't sound too appetising and at $17.00 for an appetiser I decided this was not for me. Very often these meals are a set menu of 13 courses (why that number, who knows?) You have to eat them in order to get the whole experience........please save
me from this insanity! Often they also have a special beverage to go with each course, served in a test tube, at a cost in excess of $300.00.
Personally, I think that this fad is for people who have money to burn, and a fad it is. One of the main devotees of this style is Ferran Adria of El Bulli in Spain, who has decided to close for a while. Could it be that people are waking up to the fact
that we want real food, healthy food, fresh food, food we can prepare and even grow at home.
When I eat an egg, I want to know that it is an egg not some frozen concoction, changed beyond recognition by liquid nitrogen. If I eat a home cooked char grilled steak, I can taste the smokiness in the meat, I don't need an incense stick wafted under
my nose, so that I can smell the woodsmoke.
Give me real food any day and please, please, please no more foams, dust or molecular gastronomy............
