Food waste was one of the main subjects of the recent dispatches from the Mad Feed site. This week, Mad Feed released an evocative take on the subject. Massimo Bottura, the Italian chef of Osteria Francescana writes about the relationship between food waste and traditions and memories. It is the ninth essay in the series which was published for the Mad Symposium, Bottura touches upon the issue of food waste, speaking about a recipe he has created called Bread is Gold which evokes memories of his childhood. In the essay he also touches upon a project that he is working on together with some of the world's best chefs in May to turn the food waste that will be generated at the Milan Universal Expo into meals for poor people. He writes about the most valuable lesson of an Italian kitchen which is to make the most of nothing and to never throw anything away. "A ragu is nothing other than a sauce made with scraps of meet or fish or vegetables," he writes. It is a great essay and … [Read more...]
Archives for October 2014
Chef Sache, the Cologne avantgarde cuisine festival taking place next weekend
The Cologne Avantgarde Cuisine Festival will take place on Sunday 26th October and Monday 27th October at the Palladium in Cologne, Germany. For those still undecided whether to attend, this year's lineup proves to be extremely interesting. Having seen two of the chefs (Jonnie Boer of De Librije and Quique Dacosta) taking part at Chef's Revolution in Zwolle a few weeks ago, we would recommend finding the time to go to Chef Sache in Cologne, Germany. But apart from the Dutch and Spanish chef there is also an interesting line-up which includes Eneko Atxa, Mauro Colagreco, Virgilio Martinez, Kobe Desramaults, Andree Kothe, Joachim Wissler and Christian Humbs. Among them they have an impressive 20 Michelin stars. These top chefs will provide insights into their work with inspiring shows explaining their philosophy behind their cuisine. There will also be an exhibition which showcases innovative products and ideas as well as two wine tasting sessions of German and Spanish … [Read more...]
La Buvette: Is this one of Brussels best kept secrets?
La Buvette has been on my radar for quite some time. Nicolas Scheidt, the young French chef of this restaurant in St Gilles, Brussels, was nominated as "a future great chef" for Brussels and its surroundings in the Gault&Millau guide. That should be enough of an indication of the quality of the restaurant. For one reason or another, it was difficult to find the right time to visit this restaurant. I recall one time we tried to go on a Monday evening only to find out it was closed. On another occasion it was closed for holidays. An attempt for lunch also did not materialise because the restaurant was closed. It is always a risk when you go to a restaurant with high expectations but in this case, I walked out of the restaurant wondering how could it be possible that it took me so long to visit this restaurant. If you go to La Buvette you need to know that there is no a la carte menu. What they offer are two menus (one called Large and another XL). The difference between the … [Read more...]
Brussels: Pei et Mei is worth a visit
Pei et Mei in the Brussels dialect roughly means boy and girl. It is also the name of a restaurant opened earlier this year in the Sablon area of Brussels by Gauthier De Baere and Melissa Triantopoulos, who on the Brussels scene don't really need an introduction because Gauthier worked under Alain Troubat of Stirwen in Place Jourdan and Le Fourneau and Melissa is the daughter of Evan of the Gril aux Herbes in Wemmel. The Sablon is probably one of my favourite areas in Brussels so this new restaurant is a very welcome addition to this hub of Belgian gastronomy (I am also including the chocolatiers and patissieres here). It came highly recommended, at least from the reviews that I had read earlier and it clearly did not disappoint us. We were told when we booked a table that if we were to be more than 15 minutes late we should inform them, otherwise they would give away the table. It may be a bit archaic but it is a fair approach and one which is a middle of the road approach to … [Read more...]
What happens when you take children to a fancy restaurant
In New York, the New York Times has performed a great culinary experiment by inviting six young children to eat at famous French restaurant Daniel. The menu served to them normally costs $220. The menu was prepared by star chef Daniel Boulud whose goal was for the children to discover lots of flavours, lots of layers and lots of textures. There is much debate about children and restaurants but this entertaining video gives great insight to how young children perceive fine dining. Caviar did not seem to be to their liking but the rare Wagyu Beef Rib-Eye was a big success as they all said it was excellent. The children also loved a nonalcoholic cocktail. "This is, like, the only good course," said one seven year old. The video was shot by Spellbound director Jeffrey Blitz for The New York Times. … [Read more...]
A review of Massimo Bottura’s great book Never Trust a Skinny Italian Chef
It is no secret that I have been waiting for the publication of Massimo Bottura: Never Trust A Skinny Italian Chef for the past months. Published on 6 October by Phaidon, I have to say that this book went way beyond my expectations, despite the fact that the anticipation was high. For those who are not familiar with Massimo Bottura, this Italian chef is considered to be the most avant garde Italian chef in the world. His restaurant, Osteria Francescana has three Michelin stars and is at the moment considered to be the third restaurant in the world in the World's 50 Best Restaurants awards. In 2011, he was also given the Chef's Choice as the best chef in the world by his colleagues. The book, Never Trust a Skinny Chef, which I read from start to finish in two days, is an exceptional read. Having had the pleasure to meet Massimo and listen to him explain his philosophy of cooking, reading his book was actually like listening to him explain the creative process that has gone into … [Read more...]
Weekly roundup of great reads on food and wine #5
This weekend I am busy reading a fabulous book that arrived in the post, Massimo Bottura: Never Trust A Skinny Italian Chef. I hope to review as soon as I finish it, probably tomorrow. It is a splendid book written by the most avant-garde Italian chef and one of the leading chefs in the world. It is not a cookbook but rather a journey into the philosophy of this incredible chef. More about this when I review the book. In the meantime, there has been lots to read during the week. From a Hong Kong auction setting a record price for the highest price ever paid for a lot of wine (Romanee Conti) which sold for more than $1.6 million to a very interesting article by Jancis Robinson on winemakers which are making a u-turn as they become disaffected with the wines they made in the past and move to start using less oak and instead go for more traditional approaches such as clay jars, fewer new barrels and in larger sizes. I have read a lot of books about neuroscience and how our brains … [Read more...]
Sang Hoon Degeimbre (L’air du temps) – a self-taught chef
Sang Hoon Degeimbre of two Michelin star L'air du temps in Liernu, Belgium describes himself as Korean born, a Belgian man and citizen of the world. This is another great story of a chef who followed his passion. He started working in restaurants as a sommelier and as he himself says, the first time he cooked in a restaurant was on the opening night of his own restaurant. A self-taught chef, Sang Hoon's story is an inspiring one of someone who fought against all odds to follow his passion and open a restaurant. But his restaurant is not just a run of the mill restaurant. Sang Hoon is known for his innovative dishes and a trip to the restaurant is considered a culinary pilgrimage. It has always been my wish to dine at his restaurant since my arrival in Belgium but for some reason or another this has never materialised. After listening to his story at Chefs Revolution in Zwolle last month, I am sure that the time has come to visit this temple of experimentation very … [Read more...]
What we’ve been drinking last month (September)
September is the month of new beginnings. Autumn is fast approaching and a look at my twitter feed indicates that winemakers are incredibly busy with their harvests as they start work on their new vintages. The signs of autumn are visible everywhere as the leaves start to fall off trees, the mornings become crisper and on some days a thin fog greets you as soon as you look out of the window or exit the front door. But still winter seems far away, the day is still relatively long and while we have had our fair share of white wines over the summer months, we still have the time to drink some whites particularly on the weekends as we pair them with fish dishes. In September, I also had the opportunity to go for a tasting of 2004 Barolo. Now 2004 is considered to be an excellent year for the 'king' of Italian wines. We tried eight bottles during the tasting, all of which were excellent. As in every wine tasting, there were some wines which shone. What was however surprising was … [Read more...]
Saveurs Toscanes: A feast for fans of Tuscany
Saveurs Toscanes which took place last weekend at the Arsenal in Brussels was a feast for lovers of Tuscan food and wine. It was great to visit the many stands with producers that made the trip from Tuscany and meet some cheese, wine and meat producers who we had been meeting over the years since the event started taking place. Tuscany, for lovers of food and wine, is one of Italy's richest regions. For wine, you will find appellations such as Chianti Classico, Brunello di Montalcino and Rosso di Montepulciano. All were well represented at this event and I must say that most of the wines that I tried were good, even those from very small producers who are not known in the wine guides. Tuscany is also home to wines called "Super Tuscans" which are exceptional table wines that do not follow the norms, i.e. do not necessarily use the indigenous Sangiovese grape. These wines have become cult wines and among them is a small producer Chiappini who has vineyards in Bolgheri neighbouring … [Read more...]