Laura Lazzaroni may not win a lot of friends when she says that it is time to metaphorically kill the ‘nonna’ or grandmother philosophy. But she has a point. She writes about it in the introduction to her new book The New Cucina Italiana: What to Eat, What to Cook and Who to Know in Italian Cuisine published by Rizzoli New York. “I meant it to be shocking to get the point across. Of course we all love our nonne (grandmothers) and they are extremely important. Our younger generation of chefs are respectful of tradition but they’re also emancipating and moving away from the stereotype. What grandmothers have done was fantastic particularly when it came to the craftsmanship of their hands, for example making fresh pasta. But, if we have to be honest, some things were not that great because they either did not have the technology or they did not understand the chemical reactions happening within ingredients. We also need to remember that for many young chefs in Italy today, the … [Read more...]
Lateral Cooking: Niki Segnit on the art of unleashing your creativity in the kitchen
Food writer Niki Segnit believes that by learning the basics of cooking you can unleash your creativity without needed to use a recipe book any longer. With the release of her second book Lateral Cooking, which she has been working on for the past 8 years, she explores the basis of 77 recipes which show readers how one dish can lead to another as they expand their culinary horizons and increase their confidence in cooking. Having worked on this book for 8 years, this is the companion to her first award winning book Flavour Thesaurus which won critical acclaim among chefs and food lovers alike. With Lateral Cooking she wants people to understand the connection between a custard, a creme caramel, a creme brûlée and an ice-cream. "Ultimately, they are all variations of the same theme," she explained. The book grew organically and she never expected it to take eight years to finalise but she continued to discover new things as she went about her research and she had to test each … [Read more...]
Less is more, make that your mantra – Nancy Singleton Hachisu
Isabel Gilbert Palmer interviews food writer Nancy Singleton Hachisu about food in Japan. Phaidon will be publishing her third book called Japan the Cookbook on 6 April. Nancy says that Japan the Cookbook is not an examination of regional cooking traditions, as much as a curated experience of Japan's culinary framework from a specific moment in time. Using both line and generous strokes, she said she has put together what she hopes is a broad and rich picture of the food of this island nation. Three years in the making, the book hs a collection of over 400 recipes of authentic and traditional Japanese dishes and explores every part of Japan home cooking through soups, noodles, rice, pickles, one pots, sweets and vegetable dishes. Nancy I was introduced to your work by a chef in Malibu, Los Angeles, last summer who on one of his free days, picked Japanese farm food off a friend’s bookshelf, not because he’s a cookbook reader, but because of the title. He had spent 14 years living in … [Read more...]
I was young and silly. Today, I would do things differently – Joe Warwick on the World’s 50 Best Restaurants list
There is one thing that seems to be common in many restaurants I visit or in libraries of chefs that I have seen. They all seem to have the book Where Chefs Eat which is written by food, drink and restaurant writer Joe Warwick. Who doesn’t want to go and eat in the places where chefs eat? He is of course an authority when it comes to food and restaurants. After all, he was involved in the birth of the World's 50 Best Restaurants list which today has become a household name in the world of gastronomy. Taking inspiration from el Bulli, which used to provide customers with a list of places to eat in the area, the book reveals the places where chefs like to eat (though as he himself says, the breakfast places are not something chefs are good at recommending). "The reality is that the fancier the chef or the fancier the restaurant is, they normally crave for something that is simple and delicious. Of course, when they travel they like to go and visit their peers but that is not where … [Read more...]
28 and a half minutes trying to uncover the secrets of Jay Rayner
Jason Rayner is big …..not only in a physical sense but also his presence. Jay as he prefers to call himself, is a man who is ‘Big in Britain’. He is held high in regard thanks to his success as a writer, journalist, author, critic, by his solo flight stage shows, television appearances, radio programmes and one time trip to the USA, as an expert on Bravo channel's Master Chef spin off. This barrowload of awards and accolades reminds us and him, who he was and is. For his big name and big reputation he could even be a 21st century Renaissance man if there is room for that. With his own performing Jazz Quartet in London which strikes a noticeable similarity to Woody and his set in New York, and a wife who sings with him about food and drink, he’s almost the full circle of talent and diligence. Jay arrived in New Zealand in May with opinions and his book to perform the show The Ten Commandments and share it with readers, writers and broadcasters. I was granted 30 minutes of his … [Read more...]