Chef | illywords

Serendipity in the fridge

I’ve always thought of “local cuisine” as a kind of gastronomic form of serendipity. Why insist on finding fresh galangal in Sweden and smoked venison in Thailand? There’s an element of wisdom in the approach of a generation of chefs who are rediscovering maple syrup in Vermont, in Trapani, reinventing the historic custom of drying octopus,...

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Jan 10, 2010 | Categories: Experiences | Tags: art, chef, cook, cuisine, dish, food, freeganism, fridge, gastrono, gastronomy, kitchen, menu, recipe, roberta corradin, serendipity | Leave A Comment »

To eat childhood; three degrees of amazement in the kitchen

Magazine -> #23 Emotion and Surprise

Anyone with a minimum of technical ability can be a wizard in the kitchen. The domestic chef, from whom we expect less, can amaze us with the deliciousness of a well-cooked dish. At advanced amateur (or basic professional) level we are surprised by an original recipe, a combination of flavours, or an unusual presentation. The art of surprise for...

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Jan 03, 2010 | Categories: Experiences | Tags: amazement, anton ego, art, battisti, chef, childshoods, cuisine, dish, domestic, emotion, excite, food, kitchen, ratatouille, recipe | Leave A Comment »

Vintage: identity vs. ballast

Magazine -> #25 Innovage

“Millésimé”: from superb wines to superb dishes. If identity is built up by accumulating and preserving the past, then there are chefs who preciously pour it out drop-wise across their menus. But when does identity turn into the deadweight of tradition? Chefs are keen at the idea of vintage decanted from the bottle to the dish. Keeping dis...

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Jan 02, 2010 | Categories: Experiences | Tags: art, chef, cooking, creation, creative, cuisine, culinary, dish, dishes, evolution, experience, food, future, gastronomic, history | Leave A Comment »

Fatto in casa ≠ home made

Magazine -> #20 Home Made

In Italy and the rest of the Mediterranean, the expression “fatto in casa” is paying the price of a very recent history that the older generations have not forgotten: the post-war economic hardship that continued up until the 1960s, which dictated that “home made” equated to not being able to buy the product ready-made elsewhere. “Home...

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Dec 03, 2009 | Categories: Experiences | Tags: antonio santini, atlantic, boston, by sight, chef, coffee, contest, cooking, cuisine, expression, flavours, generations, gianfranco vissani, home made, italy | Leave A Comment »