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I find interesting that high level cuisine is growing more and more detached from "eating". It is more similar to an spectacle, when one should be surprised or

I find interesting that high level cuisine is growing more and more detached from "eating". It is more similar to an spectacle, when one should be surprised or even shocked, and it's not designed to be done everyday. It is more and more about creating an experience, and ends up being totally different from some sort of "high quality feeding".

archagon 12y ago
This what I really like about "modernist cuisine", and why I think it's silly that some people consider it the future of cooking. It's really fun and delightful to very occasionally enjoy food as prepared by a mad scientist, you know? If I'm shelling out $200 for a meal, I'd rather experience it as this sort of ephemeral performance art rather than yet another perfect, but ultimately unmemorable, traditional dish. But aside from the occasional technique or two (sous vide), nobody's gonna be doing this sort of stuff at home.
- adriand 12y ago
  I agree, this is what I find intriguing (although I've never experienced it). It seems to be a little bit like thinking, "okay, we have these various very sensitive chemical and touch receptors in our mouths, what else can we do with them?" The answer of course is still "food" but only because we don't want to consume things that are poisonous or inedible.
twelvechairs 12y ago
This has always been the case. Small food stalls can produce great quality good cheaply. So expensive reauatrants have to work on the ephemerals or 'experience'. Its just that this kind of restaurant has grown significantly in our generation where eating out costs less because of the efficiencies of the modern world.
- deleted 12y ago
  [deleted]
VLM 12y ago
Most cuisines are ethnic and you can point to a spot on the map, like italy. MG and modernist is more like "point to the internet". Given that, by analogy, for most people "italian night" is ordering dominos pizza. However, it is possible to make a homemade tomato sauce and pour it on homemade fresh pasta made into the shape of homemade ravioli thats stuffed with home made home ground italian sausage. Most people would be surprised / shocked at that effort. That doesn't mean the homemade ravioli is less Italian than ordering Dominos or Dominos is more real because more people "cook" Italian that way. So yeah, I've spent 5 hours making carrot soup. An entire afternoon. And it was really good.
- davidw 12y ago
  > point to a spot on the map, like italy. Most Italians would encourage you to get a lot more specific when pointing at the map :-) Most dishes here are fairly regional, or have a place where they are "best" - like pizza from Naples, even though you can get pretty good pizza anywhere.
thisrod 12y ago
In France, back in the day, the King was served entire meals at once, which would sit there cooling off while spectators gawked from the gallery. It was one thing if you could afford to eat great cuisine, but if you could afford to let it go to waste, that showed real power. That kind of thing inspired the democracy movement. So, in the long term, it is simply not possible for serious cuisine to grow more detached from eating than it has been.

archagon 12y ago

This what I really like about "modernist cuisine", and why I think it's silly that some people consider it the future of cooking. It's really fun and delightful to very occasionally enjoy food as prepared by a mad scientist, you know? If I'm shelling out $200 for a meal, I'd rather experience it as this sort of ephemeral performance art rather than yet another perfect, but ultimately unmemorable, traditional dish. But aside from the occasional technique or two (sous vide), nobody's gonna be doing this sort of stuff at home.

adriand 12y ago
I agree, this is what I find intriguing (although I've never experienced it). It seems to be a little bit like thinking, "okay, we have these various very sensitive chemical and touch receptors in our mouths, what else can we do with them?" The answer of course is still "food" but only because we don't want to consume things that are poisonous or inedible.

twelvechairs 12y ago

This has always been the case. Small food stalls can produce great quality good cheaply. So expensive reauatrants have to work on the ephemerals or 'experience'. Its just that this kind of restaurant has grown significantly in our generation where eating out costs less because of the efficiencies of the modern world.

deleted 12y ago
[deleted]

VLM 12y ago

Most cuisines are ethnic and you can point to a spot on the map, like italy. MG and modernist is more like "point to the internet". Given that, by analogy, for most people "italian night" is ordering dominos pizza. However, it is possible to make a homemade tomato sauce and pour it on homemade fresh pasta made into the shape of homemade ravioli thats stuffed with home made home ground italian sausage. Most people would be surprised / shocked at that effort. That doesn't mean the homemade ravioli is less Italian than ordering Dominos or Dominos is more real because more people "cook" Italian that way. So yeah, I've spent 5 hours making carrot soup. An entire afternoon. And it was really good.

davidw 12y ago
> point to a spot on the map, like italy. Most Italians would encourage you to get a lot more specific when pointing at the map :-) Most dishes here are fairly regional, or have a place where they are "best" - like pizza from Naples, even though you can get pretty good pizza anywhere.

thisrod 12y ago

In France, back in the day, the King was served entire meals at once, which would sit there cooling off while spectators gawked from the gallery. It was one thing if you could afford to eat great cuisine, but if you could afford to let it go to waste, that showed real power. That kind of thing inspired the democracy movement. So, in the long term, it is simply not possible for serious cuisine to grow more detached from eating than it has been.