Wylie Dufresne is known in the culinary world for his unique approach to cooking (“molecular gastronomy”) that combinies the science and art of making a perfect meal. Fascinating factoid: he was actually a philosophy major!
He recently guested on Top Chef, and granted an excellent one on one interview with his comments on each Top Chef contestant.
Originally posted on March 23, 2008 @ 11:09 pm
The Perfectionist: Life and Death in Haute Cuisine tackles a well-known case of a three-star French chef commiting suicide in 2003, just after finishing the daily lunch service.
This elegy to Bernard Loiseau of La Cote d’Or was capably written by food journalist Chelminski. It chronicles Loiseau’s total lack of social skills, his bipolar personality, and his obsession with the Michelin Red Guide. It also talks about the intense competition and politics in the culinary world.
Originally posted on February 27, 2008 @ 4:50 am
James Martin’s culinary career started very early — by 12 years old, he’d cooked for the Queen Mother. (Well, it helps that his dad catered for Castle Howard.)
He started training when he was 16, training at Scarborough before Antony Worrall Thompson became his mentor. The two then traveled around France, before opening the Hotel and Bistro du Vin in Winchester. He was 22. Pressure was high. Did he buckle? Never. In fact, he changed the menu every day.
He’s become a well known TV Chef, starring in popular shows like Delicious! and Jamies Martin Sweet. Now, he’s part of Saturday Kitchen which airs on BBC.
Known for his desserts, he published James Martin – Desserts in Spring 2007. Here he shares his recipe for spun sugar:
1. Place 125g/4½oz caster sugar in a pan
2. Pour in just enough cold water to cover.
3. Heat until the sugar has dissolved and the liquid has turned light caramel in colour.
4. Using a fork, carefully pull out the sugar threads from the pan and shape over the back of a ladle or large spoon.
5. When hardened, gently ease off into ball shapes. Repeat with the remaining caramel.
Originally posted on November 9, 2007 @ 11:05 pm
James Beard, considered by many as the Father of American Style cooking, would frown on the calorie counting. “A gourmet who thinks of calories is like a tart who looks at her watch.”
This could largely stem from his own eating habits. “In a time when serious cooking meant French Cooking, Beard was quintessentially American, a westerner whose mother ran a boardinghouse, a man who grew up with hotcakes and salmon and meatloaf in his blood,” says one food writer.
It didn’t hurt him. He died at the ripe old age of 81 after a full life, and with a full tummy.
Originally posted on January 28, 2008 @ 7:46 pm
Before Food Network, before celebrity chefs were even a million-dollar brand, there was Julia Child. She was the food guru, and many a housewife made her cookbook their kitchen bible. (To the gratitude of their well-fed husbands.)
Now, her life will be made into a movie, starring no less than Meryl Streep. It will be directed by Nora Ephron, and will be based on Julie Powell’s book, Julie and Julia: 365 Days, 524 Recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment Kitchen.
Julie was a fan who made it her mission to try every single recipe Child ever made, but the renowned chef would have nothing to do with her and never returned her calls. “I’m just not interested,” she said in one of her final interviews.
Maybe having Oscar-winner Meryl Streep portray her will make her feel a little better.
Originally posted on November 2, 2007 @ 9:57 pm
