ckbk, a new service providing digital access to the world’s best cookbooks, today announces that it is making Robert Carrier’s classic cookbook, Great Dishes of the World, available online for the first time. Great Dishes of the World had a huge impact on its publication in 1963, and went on to sell more than 10 million copies in numerous editions. According to cookbook editor Jill Norman, “With Great Dishes of the World, Carrier persuaded readers to look beyond their usual culinary boundaries and to experiment, inspired by his confident and exuberant style.” When the 1000 Cookbooks project asked chefs and authors to identify the cookbooks which most influenced them, Great Dishes of the World was one of the top choices. Shaun Hill, a Michelin-starred chef who started his career in Carrier’s London restaurant, welcomed the news: “Robert Carrier is an underrated influence. His food was unashamedly luxurious, with plenty of cream, eggs, … [Read more...]
A former Augustinian convent becomes a modern-day sanctuary at August in Antwerp
In Antwerp, the people behind renowned boutique hotel 'Hotel Julien' have launched a new hospitality project: August. On the recently developed Military Hospital site, a former Augustinian convent has been converted into a modern-day sanctuary for both Antwerp residents and foreign visitors to enjoy. August re-envisions its historical central function with an open restaurant and a bar, a bespoke hotel with dedicated wellness area, an open air swimming pool and secluded gardens. August consists of 5 different buildings, seamlessly blended together under the guidance of renowned Belgian architect Vincent Van Duysen in his first-ever hotel project. The restaurant and bar are curated and managed by star chef Nick Bril. Created with a deep respect for its heritage, August is a modern-day sanctuary, echoing the sacred soul of historical Belgian architecture whilst intertwining a contemporary modernism. Situated in a luscious green corner of the former Military Hospital site in Antwerp, it … [Read more...]
Riccardo Camanini’s magical Cacio e Pepe
Go back a few years and few people would have known what Cacio e Pepe was. A staple of modern Italian cuisine, its simplicity was such that it was rarely if ever served in restaurants, especially those outside Rome where the dish seems to have originated. It was one of those comfort food dishes that many would eat at home when they lacked inspiration or ingredients. But, over the past few years, the Cacio e Pepe or ‘cheese and pepper’ as one would translate it from Italian, has become not just fashionable and trendy but also extremely common. The ingredients used to make this simple pasta sauce are water, cheese (pecorino Romano) and lots of pepper. Hunting for the best Cacio e Pepe or comparing one to the other may be difficult though of course the quality of the cheese used can make the difference. It’s akin to searching for the Holy Grail, you seem to be on the right track but it remains elusive. That changed in February when the Cacio e Pepe of Lido 84, the restaurant of … [Read more...]
Root cause: Can you imagine a world without wine?
Can you imagine a world without wine? This is the story behind Root Cause, a recently published book by Steven Laine. Corvina Guerra is a flying winemaker who dreams of one day settling down in her native Italy on her family’s vineyard. On a visit to a vineyard in Italy, Corvina makes a startling discovery: Phylloxera, a menacing plant that devastated vineyards in Europe more than a hundred years ago, has infested the vines. After reporting her findings to her company, Universal Wines, Corvina is charged with investigating the spread of the bug. Nicknamed Philomena by the media, the aphid is soon discovered in vineyards around the world. To aid in her investigation, Corvina recruits a wine expert in London, Bryan Lawless. In pursuit of its origins, Corvina and Bryan embark on a thrilling globetrot on which they uncover that Philomena is being intentionally spread. The deeper Corvina and Bryan search, the more they become convinced that Universal Wines holds the answer to … [Read more...]
Cooking on the frontier: a culinary trip to Ana Ros and Antonia Klugmann
A small road sign on the way to L’Argine a Venco leads you to a small country road which takes you to Antonia Klugmann’s restaurant. Opposite is a sign saying Slovenia is just two kilometres away. A further 36 kilometres or just over a half hour drive is Hisa Franko, the restaurant of Ana Ros and Valter Kramer which has put Slovenia on the culinary map. This is Mitteleuropa or the German term for Middle or Central Europe. And here is home to two of Europe’s leading female chefs, both valid reasons for a gastronomic trip but also exceptionally close to each other to be worth combining them. There are similarities between the two chefs who find themselves working so close to each other on either side of the Italian and Slovenian border. They both have a very deep connection to their region and their territory and they both have rose to fame thanks to their cooking and television. Ana Ros was well known in gastronomic circles before Chef’s Table on Netflix but the episode in that … [Read more...]
Afton Halloran, the roast beef rebellion and 10 European food trends
At the age of 11, Afton Halloran decided to become vegetarian. A year later, at school, she had to learn to cook during a home economics class. The class started with how to make a proper English tea but as weeks went by things became more sophisticated and the pupils learnt to make cookies, soup etc. One day, they had to learn how to make a proper roast beef dinner. “When I heard this, I went to the teacher and told her that I had no reason to learn this recipe because I had become a vegetarian. At first the teacher looked in shock, then she became angry and asked and just how do you think that you will ever find a husband.” Afton Halloran was speaking at the European Food Summit organised in Ljubljana last month. Dr Halloran has over the past 12 years built up a robust background in the field of sustainable food systems and she is also consultant to the Nordic Council of Ministers working on a project called the Nordic Food Policy Lab. Although she is no longer vegetarian … [Read more...]
Playfood 2 at L’Air du Temps: Andreas Caminada cooks for the first time in Belgium
Andreas Caminada, chef and owner of three Michelin star Swiss restaurant Schloss Schauenstein was recently in Liernu, Belgium to cook at L' Air du Temps, the restaurant of chef Sang Hoon Degeimbre. Under the theme PLAYFOOD, the Belgian chef is inviting a number of international top chefs to cook at the restaurant following the refurbishment of the restaurant last year. The first guest of Sang-Hoon was Swedish chef Magnus Ek who visited the newly refurbished restaurant with its impressive dining room overlooking the extensive vegetable garden and the countryside of Liernu. Caminada was the second chef to visit the restaurant and he will be followed by Dominique Crenn from the United States and Mauro Colagreco later this year. For the dinner, Caminada and San presented a harmonious menu which featured a number of their signature dishes. This was the first ever time that Caminada cooked in Belgium. The day before the four hands dinner at L'Air du Temps, he presented … [Read more...]
Falling in love with Uruguay: Discovering La Barra and Borneo Coffee
Wedged between Brazil in the north and Argentina to the west, Uruguay has become Isabel Gilbert Palmer’s latest “I’ve fallen deeply in love with” part of the world. On the road during the month of January she travelled along the Uruguay coast, from Montevideo to Punte Del Esta tracing the coastal Ruta Gastromica from the seaside villages of Puente La Barra to Jose Ignaico and on the dusty ribboned backroads to Pueblo Garzon. Isabel shares some of her southern hemisphere summer finds and later stories during the same month, of travelling further afield to Argentina, the city Buenos Aires, her drive across the Pampas to Mendoza and the wine fields at the foot of the Andes. People, places, art, food, wine, where to stay and sunshine. An unforgettable Latin American experience and fortune willing she’s doing it all over again, and more next year. In the meantime memories are made of this . La Barra La Barra is one of the old fishing villages strung along … [Read more...]
Odprta Kuhna: Bringing a taste of Slovenia to Ljubljana and the world
In his own words, Lior Kochavy did not know how to crack an egg and make an omelette for himself. If he knew how to cook, Open Kitchen or Odprta Kuhna as it is known in Slovenia would not exist. Earlier this month it opened for the European Food Summit. This year will be the seventh edition of the project, the brainchild of Lior and his wife Alma. This one of a kind food market attracts around 50 restaurants to Slovenia’s capital to showcase what the country has to offer. Every Friday from March to October, hungry visitors flock to the market to savour food from some of the city’s best establishments as well as restaurants from other parts of Slovenia. They serve sample and cheaper portions of their restaurant dishes with a number of beer and wine stalls to add to the atmosphere. Lior arrived in Slovenia in 2006 from Israel. “It was all different for me when I arrived here,” he said at the European Food Summit which was organised in Ljubljana earlier this month. “I was used … [Read more...]
‘There will be a crash point if we don’t act now’ – Roberto Flore
The future will happen whether we like it or not and it is therefore essential to take action. “People are afraid of the future because they feel that they are not in control,” Roberto Flore who runs the DTU Skylab Foodlab in Copenhagen said at the European Food Summit. “We should design utopias or positive futures rather than speak of dystopia,” he said. Technologies, he said, need to be human centric. “We need to find people who can help to create and design machines. We do not have this concept at the moment. Machines are toady designed with efficiency but they are not efficient. They are only driven by numbers. There will be a crash point if we do not act now. The question is how can we design machines with social efficiency in mind, a machine that benefits society. Maybe we will fish less but we may be able to have fish available for more people,” he said. The former Italian chef who took over the DTU Skylab Foodlab last year after having headed the Nordic Food Lab (run … [Read more...]