soupnancy

I’ve been wading through my e-mails and tagged articles to read, finally taking it all in and responding. Here, I point you to some of the interesting tidbits I gathered in December.

Some interesting tidbits from the food media...

Carol Off’s book on Chocolate: This book seems like a compelling read about the history of chocolate, and how our favorite sweet is produced today. I was touched by her quote about the underage plantation workers, “I feel the profound irony before me: the children who struggle to produce the small pleasure of life in the world I come from have never known such pleasures. They don’t know what chocolate is.” And as the reviewer in the Gazette pointed out, it’s this confection – produced by uneducated, orphaned, starving, abused children – that we in North America use to say, ‘I love you’.

Bitter Chocolate: Investigating the Dark Side of the World’s Most Seductive Sweet,

By Carol Off, Random House Canada, $34.95

Trends of 2006: Starchefs sums it up well..

http://www.starchefs.com/features/editors_dish/trends_survey/index.shtml

What to expect in 2007: Frank Bruni and Zagat interview chefs and draw up lists of new food trends and things to look forward to in 2007. The results:

http://dinersjournal.blogs.nytimes.com/?p=166

http://www.zagat.com/news/newsCUR.aspx?Art=Art_december_2006_2

Food Politics: A positive trend that is here to stay.. This is a brief overview of the progress we have made in our connection to our food supply thanks to the food scares, activism, books and movies that are eliciting a response on the part of consumers and big business. There is hope yet.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/27/dining/27food.html?ei=5090&en=ab1ba1be34b60106&ex=1324875600&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss&pagewanted=print

Illy takes on Starbucks: Coffee is now big business globally, and the big players are jostling for position.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/26/business/worldbusiness/26eurocoffee.html?ex=5090..

Food science is on every yearly trend list, and the talk probably won’t stop for a while, as molecular gastronomy becomes ultra popular in mainstream haute cuisine. Harold McGee’s article “When Science Sniffs Around the Kitchen”

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/06/dining/06curi.html?ex=1167541200&en=d45588e3135c2096&ei=5070

gives you an idea of what is going on, the trickle down effects of ancient cuisine catching up with modern science... He marvels at it all, but he certainly had something to do with this, by getting people excited about it in his On Food and Cooking 15 years ago (this was the book that accompanied me in my transition from the world of science to that of food).

To see food science applications taken to the extreme, explore Grant Achatz’ crazy inventive menus.... http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/14.05/achatz_pr.html

I find all this stimulating (as a mental exercise to understand food), but personally, I have no desire to cook like that. Granted, a chemical is a chemical, whether it occurs in nature or is produced in a lab, but when you break down food and taste so elementally, it seems to me that you take the sensual magic out of it, like simplifying love to pheromones. I’m all for incorporating new knowledge into our methods, but while staying true to the traditional approach. What self-respecting cook wants to mimic big industry by using the same chemicals and machinery that they use in processed food anyway? Unless I was packing a picnic for a space shuttle trip, I would rather use a fresh egg and lemon, than lecithin and citric acid, not that there is anything inherently wrong with that.

With pure chemicals, you can select the desired effect by only using a specific proetin for example, without all the other stuff (other proteins, water, fat, sugars) when that’s all you want. But then, this is an entirely different approach to cooking as we know it. In effect, you’re also neglecting the natural complexity of natural foodstuffs, rather than truly knowing them and honoring them. This all too pervasive syndrome of wanting to control nature as opposed to working with it, is the source of many of our environmental problems today. Anyway.

I have no doubt that all this knowledge and these modern chefs’ experiments will ultimately change the way we cook to some extent, and great. This new field of science is a beautiful thing, we do need to evolve. But I think we have to keep our feet on the ground, and our taste buds alert.

There is also no doubt that I would have remained in science if I had known that I could have been studying cheese in the lab for a living back then. However, I would not want to be one of THEM (academics). Reading Harold McGee’s account of the conference, I was reminded of one I attended at McGill, where I sat there wondering if these academics were from Planet Mars where all they ate was KD. Only academics will sit through a 3hr presentation supporting the claim that a third smell sensation can result from two distinct smells! We all know that instinctively, think apple pie or poutine. When food chemistry meets brain chemistry, 1 + 1 does not equal 2, more like 10 or infinity. We can’t even think in terms of 1 and 2 given that your typical identifiable aroma consists of dozens of chemical compounds... Poor scientists, it is so complicated when you dissect it so, but someone has to do it, I suppose. On a visceral level, it is simple. That’s why I’m much better off as a trades person.

No fuss French bread: In the on line food world, there was much buzz in articles and blogs in early December about this apparently ground breaking, simplified bread recipe ever since it appeared in Mark Bittman’s NYTimes article…I haven’t tried it yet, but, if you’re feeling experimental... http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/06/dining/06curi.html?ref=

Sedna IV:  This is not about food, but provides food for thought. It is the official website for the unique Antarctica mission to study and document the effect of climate change on the south pole, of which the Québecois scientist, Jean Lemire, was the leader , returning in early December after 9 monthes. The site shows details about the crew, their journals, and the information they gathered. Go visit this website for the stunning pictures if nothing else.  http://sedna.tv/spip/sommaire.php3?lang=fr