Galeta of mushrooms and marinated foie gras
Pascal Barbo – restaurant Astrance, Paris, 2005
Like his predecessors, the creators of the “nouvelle cuisine”, who visited Japan and returned with fresh ideas used to create the principles of new French cuisine, Pascal Barbo traveled in search of inspiration. True, in Australia, Indonesia and Mexico. He also integrated the acquired knowledge and experience into French cuisine. Barbot believed that the dish should preserve as much as possible the natural taste of the ingredients. The “gallets” are based on products that are rarely eaten raw in France: mushrooms and foie gras. Both are cut into thin slices, goose liver is slightly marinated in a verge – a light wine vinegar from fresh (not fermented) grapes. After that, they are laid out in layers on each other in the form of Napoleon cake. It is served with nut oil and lemon cream.
P.S. It is possible to go hungry from this restaurant. The feeling of “satiety” gives only the score.
Spherical olives
Ferran Adria – El Bulli restaurant, Roses, Spain, 2005
While the other chefs focused on the natural taste of products, in Spain Ferran Adria started building a “mythical temple” of modernist cuisine. In fact, he “swung at the saint” – he decided to surpass nature and give the products a flavor that will be better than their natural taste. To create this dish, he juiced green olives, decontaminated the juice from the pulp and poured it with a teaspoon into the alginate solution, where the juice was rolled into the gel sphere, again taking the form of olives. The resulting “fruits” were left in marinade overnight and served by splashing a mixture of gin and vermouth to create the effect of a “dirty martini” – a cocktail of gin and vermouth with the addition of olive marinade.
P.S. The restaurant has been closed for a long time, but jars of molecular powders and regular publications on past achievements provide a stable income for the family of Fernand Adria.
Hot potatoes, cold potatoes
Ashatz – Alinea restaurant, Chicago, 2005
When Grant Ashatsu was just over 30 years old, he was diagnosed with tongue cancer. After a long period of experimental treatment, the young Chicago chef fully recovered and, to prove his fitness for the job, created a brand new tasting menu at his Alinea restaurant. This is one of his classic dishes. The metal skewer is covered with potatoes cut out in the shape of a sphere and fried in ghee, a piece of green onion feather, cubes of butter and parmesan. The composition is crowned with a slice of truffle. There is a cold truffle-potato cream-soup on the plate. When you take out the skewer, the ingredients strung on it fall into the plate.
P.S. Today, to book a place in this restaurant, you will be offered to choose the menu and pay in advance. It is not necessary to come to the restaurant.
Eggs “Benedict”
Wiley Dufresne – restaurant wd~50, New York 2005
Wiley Dufresne made a name for himself by remaking the dishes that have been favorite for generations of Americans. This dish is complex: deep-fried cubes of Dutch sauce (stabilized by hydrocolloids breaded in crumbs of English cake), yolk su-vide, texture reminiscent of fudge, slices of Canadian bacon thick with cigarette paper. The dish is designed to surprise with an unusual appearance and, at the same time, a familiar taste.
Edible Stones
Andoni Luis Aduris – “Mugaritz” restaurant, San Sebastian, Spain
Before taking out the food, in the restaurant “Mugarits” you will put two envelopes in front of you. In one of them there is a note with the words “150 minutes… agree!”, in the second one – “150 minutes… refuse!”. (Actually, the sentences sound more categorical: “Obey” or “Resist”). Whichever tablet … sorry, whatever envelope you choose, the result will be the same – you’ll get the same dishes, but according to the chef, the impression of food depends on your inner mood – you want to have fun or complain about how bad it is. This dish is an ideal tester: in front of you, there is a bowl of stones, only two of which are edible, and the rest are collected near the river that flows in the vicinity. The edible stones are potatoes covered with a thin layer of a mixture of white clay (also edible), lactose, salt, and water.
P.S. For me, San Sebastian is one of the best cities to live in. And there are also several dozens of tapas bars serving delicious pintxos.
Sound of the Sea
Heston Blumenthal – “The Fat Duck”, Bray, England 2007
Meticulous study of the properties of food, food technology and the history of gastronomy, as well as the creation of thoughtful “dish tricks” (the famous tangerine pate) brought Heston Blumenthal three Michelin stars for the restaurant The Fat Duck and worldwide recognition. The “Sound of the Sea” is considered the most striking example of Heston’s handwriting: a miniature copy of the “beach”, where the role of sand is performed by tapioca with “sea” foam and pieces of fish and pickled algae, which comes with an iPod hidden in the shell. Before you start eating, you should insert headphones into your ears. There is a dish listening to the screams of seagulls and the sound of waves rolling on the shore. Ideally, this should enhance the taste experience.
P.S. Blumenthal’s Pub The Hinds Head, with its traditional British eggs, bulltail pudding and soup made of green peas, brought the institution a Michelin star and the title of the best pub in 2011.
Pickled vegetables
René Redzepi – “Noma” restaurant, Copenhagen, Denmark, 2007
The new Nordic cuisine took the world gastronomic scene by storm 10 years ago and literally eclipsed everyone else for several years. All thanks to René Redzepi and his restaurant Noma. This dish, which became a parable in paganism, consists of thin slices of pickled vegetables rolled up in ‘tubules’, decorated with edible flowers and herbs and laid out over bone marrow. René introduced the fashion for ancient methods of food processing, first of all – fermentation (souring, pickling, marinating), the study of technology which has fascinated many modern chefs.
P.S. Rene has made fashion for northern cuisine, which in itself deserves respect.
Cold hot egg with maple syrup
Alain Passard – “Duke of Angen” restaurant (Le Duc d’Enghien), Angen-le-Bain, France, early 1980s
Chefs – proponents of “nouvelle cuisine” – introduced the fashion for amuse-bouches, snacks that are miniature dishes served before lunch or dinner to excite taste buds and prepare the eater for a full meal. This dish is based on contrasts: a warm sliced yolk is served on sherry cream with maple syrup and spices, which are usually seasoned with the main (salty) dishes, and is served in egg shells – a perfect example of the combination of elegant presentation and quite sophisticated technology.
Beet Rose
Daniel Patterson – Coy (Coi) restaurant, San Francisco, California, 2011
Patterson Beet Rose illustrates the evolution of Californian cuisine: at the head of the table is still a local product, but over the cooking and serving of the cook “maniacs” as neurosurgeons. Each “petal” of the rose is a slice of baked beet cut off with a sharp knife, which was dipped in gently glued beet juice and glued carefully to others to form a flower. After all this “meticulous work”, the collected rose is solemnly erected on the basis of mashed beet, whipped yogurt and ice from real pink petals.
Ants and pineapple
Alex Atala – D.O.M. restaurant, Sao Paulo, Brazil, 2000s
Thanks to Alex Atal, after the phenomenon of Nordic cuisine (created by Rene Redzepi), the gastronomic world started talking about South American cuisine. Atala is a fan of local products. During one of his trips through Amazonian rain forests, he was surprised by the taste and aroma of the dish cooked by an old Indian woman – it smelled of lemongrass and ginger. When asked what smelled like that, the old lady answered: “So they are ants. In his restaurant D.O.M. (Deo Optimo Maximo – “To God, the best, the greatest”) he introduced a dish of the same dried ants, placing it on a cube of pineapple. Following his example, other chefs also slowly began to use ants and other insects as ingredients for their dishes.