2014年5月24日 星期六

型態的變化

Metamorphosis

烹飪不僅是種趨勢,而是個性化的陳述。
Cooking is not a trend, but personalized statements.
If you look closely at the life cycle of a caterpillar, you would see that they spend a majority of their time feeding, absorbing the nutrients necessary for their transformation. Perhaps, within these feeding is the genetic instruction given for the cycle of metamorphosis. Very much like the beginners to cooking, we, the beginning caterpillars, follow closely the instructions and recipes given to us lest any carelessness ruin the final taste of the dish. Being a diligent and exemplary apprentice, one can master the techniques to produce dishes with precise and pleasant flavors to everyone's liking. Personal touches and creativity enhance the variety of the dishes and that's why we have so many restaurants to choose from and indulge in then.
Perhaps, it is enough for the most part, particularly in the face of entertainment and the enjoyment of good flavors to accompany a fun night out. But there raises the questions of simply having good flavours is enough from a chef's point of view. If cooking is an art, then what separates an amateur from a professional is the masterpiece crafted that is evidently infused with the distinct personalized statement and philosophy behind their cooking.
Take el bulli restaurant in Spain for example, their techniques to cooking changed the world. What followed after is a wave of adaptations of their techniques showing up in restaurants across the globe. They have become a trend, but what about his approach to good flavours that essentially drive and influence his techniques in the first place?
Ferran adria of el bulli is the forefather of avant garde cuisine. His cuisines are so unique and so unconventional that they are his personal statements, his philosophy at work, and where his inspirations are derived from. His statements, affectionately known as molecular gastronomy, started a movement; although they received a different type of scrutiny. And what followed after, is easily a series of public misconceptions, and a "food trend" where some ambitious chefs follow, sometimes at the cost of flavors, just to have their restaurants lined up for the plaque of molecular gastronomy fashion. Combined with public misconceptions and limited understanding to cuisine, it's easy for the public to label any restaurant with "dishes that look like something, but are actually something else" as molecular gastronomy.
A trend should not be blindly followed unless it has a meaning, a purpose, and an identity. I do not want the dishes served at my studio become the victim of blindly followed food fashion or trend. I need le vert to have its own identities and personalities-- a particular philosophy that is solid on its feet with clear meanings and statements, capable of moving the diners with emotions, and directs the evolution and techniques involved behind the preparation of the food. It has become quite clear to me that how important it is for me to find and define my own philosophy to cooking; because if I don't, I'd be lost in this culinary world as an amateur, eternally pursuing that masterpiece instead of being the hands that created it.
I am glad that I realized cooking is a passion to me and I am doing it because I love it.


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