Have you washed that salad you bought from a supermarket that has been labeled as washed? If not, you might think twice the next time you open that bag and serve it without washing it. This is the description of what your salad label really means: "Washed and ready-to-eat salads: Cleaned by sloshing around in tap water dosed with chlorine, often with powdered or liquid fruit acids to inhibit bacterial growth. The same tank of treated water is often used for 8 hours at a time". A shocking book is being published this week by Joanna Blythman. The name of the book is Swallow This: Serving Up the Food Industry's Darkest Secrets. In an article written by Blythman in The Guardian last week. she writes in incredible detail on what is happening in the food industry. It is a preview of the content of the book. And believe us, it does not make pleasant reading. We have already highlighted this article as a 'must read' in our weekly top reads on food and wine. But, if you've missed … [Read more...]
Weekly roundup of great reads on food and wine #22
Many of us have stories and anecdotes of group dinners gone bad. I've heard so many anecdotes from friends and experienced a few that this article could have easily been one I wrote. It might actually tempt me to share a few funny stories in the coming weeks about group dinners gone bad. So if you have any, don't hesitate to drop us a line. In the meantime, enjoy this article published in the Guardian. Most of today's top UK chefs have had stints with Marco Pierre White. He was the most influential and creative chef of his generation before he decided to retire from actual cooking in 1999. Here is a great interview with him in which he speaks about celebrity chefs. He also makes some interesting points about being able to do what he wants because he does not have 'three Michelin stars tying him to his stove'. We love Tokyo and hope to return as soon as this is feasibly possible. Noma's chef Rene Redzepi has been in Tokyo over the past weeks cooking at a pop-up restaurant. Here is … [Read more...]
Bo Bech and San Degeimbre: a unique four hands dinner
There is something really special about the love of food and cooking. Most of our celebrations always end up having food, family and friends as the central element. So when you get two passionate cooks like Sang-Hoon Degeimbre of L'air du temps and Bo Bech of Restaurant Geist cooking together in a four-hands dinner you end up realising that when it comes to food, we all speak the same language. There is something very special about a four hands dinner. It brings together cooks who may not know each other very well but it helps to cement a friendship and showcase their different cooking styles. There are clearly many differences between the two chefs. Bo is a bubbly personality, San is more calm. In a way it is like comparing chalk and cheese. But put them together in a kitchen and they created a magical menu at the first four hands dinner for 2015 at L'air du temps. The story of the two chefs also has many similarities. Unlike most chefs, both San and Bo did not start their … [Read more...]
Bo Bech: Easier to remember the truth than the lie
Bo Bech, of restaurant Geist, is a bubbly personality who knows exactly what he wants. Having made his name in Copenhagen at Restaurant Paustian, where he was awarded a Michelin star, he decided to set up Geist in 2011 because he did not like the way food was going. When Sang-Hoon Degeimbre, of two Michelin starred Belgian restaurant L'Air du Temps invited him for a four-hands dinner in Liernu he replied immediately without hesitation. Bech is well-known in Denmark for the Danish answer to Kitchen Nightmares. But he is also a chef who leaves a huge impression. Both Sang-Hoon and Olivier from L'Air du Temps tell us how this restaurant has left a really great impression and they highly recommend that we visit if we are in Copenhagen. You can understand why from the cooking style of Bo Bech, but also from his philosophy. While he is making the sauce, which is about to accompany what seems like a simple dish but has incredibly complex flavours (the cauliflower with truffle and a … [Read more...]
Weekly roundup of great reads on food and wine #21
We have come across a number of very interesting articles this week on food and wine. We hope you have time to read a few of them. It is always great to read inspiring stories and this one on French chef Anne-Sophie Pic in eater.com by Lesley Chesterman is fantastic. It is long but really worth a read. Noma's pop-up restaurant in Tokyo has served its last dinner this week. The Guardian has a stunning photo reportage of Noma in Tokyo, in pictures. We've come across a list of top five restaurants in the South of France published by Oliver's Travels as well as a list of 5 best value restaurants. While some like Mauro Colagreco's Mirazur Restaurant, who we interviewed for Food and Wine Gazette, are on our bucket list, others are extremely interesting to note. Bone broth is becoming more trendy according to this article in the Guardian. Bone broth has been made for centuries and is made by simmering animal bones (usually beef or chicken) for a very long time to extract maximum flavour … [Read more...]
L’air du temps: Four hands dinner with San Degeimbre and Bo Bech
Bo Bech, the Danish chef of restaurant Geist in Copenhagen was the first to inaugurate this year's series of four hands dinners with two Michelin star chef Sang-hoon Degeimbre at L'Air du Temps in Liernu, and what a great evening it turned out to be. When I had interviewed San in November, he had mentioned Geist as one of his favourite restaurants in the world, so I was incredibly curious to experience what the Danish chef and San could combine together. Bo Bech needs no introduction in Denmark. He is well known for having closed a Michelin star restaurant to open Geist, which is more like a brasserie. The cuisine is still impeccable but he wanted a less formal ambience. In Copenhagen, he was also well known for having a bakery without a name which made only one type of bread, and for many years he was a television personality who presented the Danish version of 'Kitchen nightmares'. When you meet Bo, you can actually feel his energy. We were invited to experience this … [Read more...]
Gert de Mangeleer (Hertog Jan): Simplicity is not simple
In the outskirts of the idyllic Belgian city of Bruges in Zedelgem is a culinary genius who became the youngest ever 3 Michelin star chef in Belgium and one of the youngest in history at 34. What made the journey so incredible, however, was not the age at which he reached the top, but rather the speed with which the team at Hertog Jan turned a brasserie first into a Michelin starred restaurant (2006) and then one of only three, 3 Michelin starred restaurants in Belgium (2011). Gert De Mangeleer is now 37. Last week I visited Hertog Jan to meet Gert, to learn the story behind one of Belgium's most successful chefs and a rising star in the culinary world. Hertog Jan only moved to Zedelgem from its old location in July. It was the next step in their philosophy since the farm has been supplying their own restaurant since they bought it in 2010. The 180 year-old barn has been completely renovated and refurbished, now hosting a stunning kitchen which is the beating heart of the new … [Read more...]
A hint of garlic lands a top Italian chef in trouble
Carlo Cracco, one of Italy's most well-known chefs and television personalities has landed in trouble for using garlic in a pasta sauce. Cracco was making his version of an "amatriciana" sauce on a TV programme last Saturday when he added a 'secret' ingredient, garlic in its skin, to the sauce. But the mayor of the town of Amatrice, where the recipe originated from took issue with the recipe prepared by this famous chef saying that they were bewildered. Amatrice, the mayor said, was shocked by the mistake made by this chef who added garlic when the original recipe only has 'guanciale' from the town, pecorino from the same town, tomatoes from San Marzano, white wine, pepper and chilli peppers. He said that the Italian chef had made a 'lapsus' which was in good faith and invited him to the town to savour the real 'amatriciana'. The mayor noted that the sauce prepared by Cracco could be delicious but it could not be called an amatriciana. The controversy highlights the … [Read more...]
Weekly roundup of great reads on food and wine #20
The art of eating is a quarterly print publication that has been published since 1986. Edward Behr, the founder, likes to list the top food books of the year. Here is a list of 12 books including Massimo Bottura's Never Trust a Skinny Italian chef which we reviewed on this site. We are currently reading one of them, The Third Plate by Dan Barber and will also review it when we finish it. Anyone who has been to Japan knows that the food scene is exceptional and the quality of ingredients is out of this world. We have come across a very interesting blog by a doctor who is incredibly passionate about food. We came across a splendid article on the sensational dishes of Japan in 2014. It makes us want to return to Japan. The photos are great, the descriptions mouth-watering. Japanese markets are special. This one is about the Nishiki market in Kyoto. And to keep with the Japanese theme, we have come across an article about the rise of Japanese chefs in Paris. Some chefs that have … [Read more...]
Quique Dacosta: The idea is what matters
Where there is a will there is a way. That could be the title of the story of Quique Dacosta, a self-taught Spanish chef of a restaurant that is called by his name. Today, Quique Dacosta is considered to be one of the leaders of avant-garde cuisine in Spain. He has won awards and accolades from being in the top 50 list of the World's Best restaurants to having three Michelin stars. It is hard to believe that he started working as a chef in the restaurant which he now owns at the age of 17 and never cooked or trained anywhere else. It all started in 1989, when he joined a family restaurant by the name of El Poblet in 1989 without any previous experience as a chef. 10 years later, he bought the restaurant in Denia, close to Alicante and Valencia. He says that he owes his success to his team. "I am lucky to have a fantastic team that can help me to turn ideas into reality. They can focus on everything from the largest to the smallest of details. I always say that it is better to … [Read more...]