Molecular gastronomy is dead?
Bistro | Aug 26, 2010 | Comments 0
Molecular gastronomy is a new favourite bugaboo among chefs. Whenever they’re asked to name a tired trend, it’s usually what they rattle off first. At this point, few chefs admit to practicing it, or if they do, they use another term, something like “innovative cooking methods.”
Wylie Dufresne (the chef and owner of wd~50 restaurant in Manhattan. Dufresne have been a leading American proponent of molecular gastronomy) defends it. He points out that molecular gastronomy has helped us understand more about simple things like retaining a steak’s juices, poaching an egg, and preserving the color of vegetables: “I like the fact that there’s no right or wrong way to poach an egg, but knowing what’s happening to an egg as it goes from 60 degrees Celsius to 70 degrees Celsius helps you make the decisions about at what point you want to start or stop the cooking.”
interestingly, Ferran Adrià, famed head chef of the El Bulli , announced recently that his restaurant would close and become a gastronomy think-tank for apprentice chefs. Now he is to be the new face of Spanish tourism. An international campaign will be launched in Singapore, New York, Sao Paulo, Germany and London with TV, print and online advertising featuring the chef.
Most radical development have been spotted in Italy. Last week the Italian government moved to ban some of the chemicals and techniques used in molecular gastronomy from Italian kitchens. In a nation where a huge number of voters are involved in agriculture and all are cheerfully obsessed by their regional cuisines, high-profile legislation against foreign culinary influence will be a sure vote winner, so such moves probably shouldn’t surprise us. But does the move by the Italian government mark the end of an era?
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Filed Under: Food Trends • Food Trends Around the World
