Food Thread: Cutting Edge vs. Classic...

The cutting edge of cooking is usually found at high-end restaurants that have the wherewithal to experiment with new techniques and ingredients, and have an audience that is willing to pay for it. Those kitchens are also always trying new technology, or at least technology that is made accessible to thehier kitchens. I doubt any three star restaurants have SMRs (Small Modular Reactor), but they have liquid nitrogen systems and freeze-drying equipment and aerosolizing machines and all sort of stuff that the home cook or even most other restaurants don't bother with or can't afford.

Is that stuff fun? Sure! Is it something I want in my kitchen? Absolutely not. But some variation of those techniques and equipment eventually trickles down into the typical restaurant kitchen, and then into the home cook's cabinets. Sous Vide equipment is a good example. 20 years ago it was confined to the top restaurants. Now? You can buy a Sous Vide wand for $50.

The dish up top is a great example too. It is a simple dish of tomatoes and mozzarella, with a couple of flourishes that elevate it without making it fussy. It's called: Tartare de Tomate Coeur de Boeuf, Soupe Froide de Tomate – Ananas, Espuma de Mozzarella, Basilic et Olives Taggiasche, which is a mouthful! But the "espuma" part is the kicker. They took a rarified technique from a big fancy kitchen, and toned it down for what they are...an excellent neighborhood restaurant that makes delicious and interesting food.

It's just Mozzarella that has been whipped so it is very light. Nothing like the insanely wispy foams at three-star restaurants that seem to float away from the dish, and that is a good thing, because there is enough substance to it to make it a very pleasing dish without it being a massive and rich first course.

What's the point? Just that the weird molecular gastronomy and experimental stuff coming out of a few kitchens often makes it to neighborhood restaurants, and it improves those kitchens by giving them interesting options without having to break the bank.

Of course my main course was "Blanquette de Veau," a classic dish whose recipe probably hasn't changed in 400 years!

That's an espresso from a Starbucks in Paris. Why did I buy an espresso at Starbucks? Because their bathrooms are accessible, and while I was waiting I figured I would get a coffee.

And it was unbelievably bad. So bad that I, the most parsimonious Moron on earth, tossed it after I documented its horror.

You can get an espresso almost literally anywhere in Paris, or France: Every cafe, every restaurant, every street food joint, every "tabac" where you can buy cigarettes, candy, and condoms along with your espresso. Gas stations too!

And they are at the very least good. And sometimes great! But they all know how to make it and keep their machines clean.

Except, apparently, for Starbucks. How they can screw up a drink that the entire country knows how to make is beyond me. Oh, I could guess...Corporate arrogance that the mediocre espresso they make in America is "good enough," but I really don't care enough to ponder it much past, "Wow...Starbucks s*cks!"

Yes, I drowned my anger and disgust by walking another 100 yards (that's 91.44 meters in Euro-kickball speak) to the nearest cafe and ordering an excellent espresso.

About the Bourbon Bubble...I think it has burst, but the category is also suffering from the inflation that affected everything else (Thanks Biden!). I think the sweet spot is still $40-$60 for excellent and interesting bottles, and bumping that to $100 gets you an incremental improvement in quality, but nothing mind-blowing. More than that and I think you are paying for hype and rarity, which may look good in your liquor cabinet, but doesn't translate to more quality in the bottle.

The problem...or the solution...is to buy lots of bourbon, take tasting notes, and eventually arrive at your favorites! It should take forty or fifty years, but it is worth it!

posted by CBD at 04:00 PM

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