Slow Cooking Vs Chemical Cooking
Molecular Gastronomy-Who wants it?
This post comes on the back of a comment by legendary English chef, Marco Pierre White last week. Speaking at the Caterer’s 2008 Chef Conference at the Intercontinental London Park Lane hotel he questioned the validity of molecular gastronomy and despite its ingenuity he wondered if the food tasted fundamentally better.
Marco is a true believer in food making sense, I wouldn’t say the food he cooked was ever simple, he demanded the highest standards and his technique was impeccable. The thing about Marco was that every dish he put on a menu read so well, you just knew it would taste incredible. He wanted his customers to enjoy his food and appreciate the effort made but he never wanted to baffle them with science.
He went on to say that as much as he admired the likes of Heston Blumenthal he couldn’t see the point of cooking beef for twenty four hours and burning it with a blow torch. I must say that a friend of mine copied Blumenthal’s method for cooking the perfect steak to the letter and we both agreed after eating it that it had been a waste of time.
So five months into the new year and where are we with food right now? The molecular boys are certainly winning in the trendy and awards stakes but how many are actually eating it? Ell Bulli, the creator of this movement is packed for the six months it is open but what, I wonder is the profitability of the lesser known restaurants which copy the likes of El Bulli and The Fat Duck?
As the credit crunch bites deeper will these restaurants suffer the most? Will people want to spend a £100 plus per head on food they probably won’t understand, personally I have my reservations.
Miles,
personally I have my reservations …. well what are we waiting for then, hurry up or we’ll miss the bus
If only it were that easy but El Bulli is reputed to be booked up a year ahead and all the journalists who have reported on the experience, give glowing accounts. Apparently some of the ingredients used are available to buy on line but I’d need a personal trainer as well judging from the brief insights into the culinary molecular world.
Cid
p.s. Elsie and I have purchased new Flamenco outfits to celebrate your birthday so don’t forget to wear a tie and cufflinks, we don’t want to be turned away at the door
May 20, 2008 @ 5:26 pm
Cid,
El Bulli will always be popular, I have read that he is thinking of narrowing the opening times even more, it will soon be easier to see the Beatles!
How do you see the ‘credit crunch’ affecting the restaurant trade?
Miles
May 20, 2008 @ 8:21 pm
Miles,
The credit crunch is affecting lots of local businesses here but strangely enough more tea rooms have opened in the last six months. No matter how bad things get, tea and a bun is always popular. Those who rely on fish and chips will remain loyal I suspect and those who can afford the high end restaurants on a regular basis, will probably continue to do so.
It’s hard to see just who is supporting the large number of small restaurants in my little town (sounds like a Paul Simon number!) ….. certainly not those who are scraping together the rent. On closer inspection it could be the older population who moved in from the wealthier south some years back with good pensions.
As you predicted some time ago, food prices have increased substantially and yet places around here are still able to fill tables….. presumably the gap between supermarket prices and a cafe meal for under £10 is shortening?
Cid
May 21, 2008 @ 8:19 am