Balancing Tastes Everything plays and weighs in its part or role in our cooking. It is our job, no our mission, to balance tastes, opinions, visions, views, flavors, textures, styles. In order to accomplish our goals, we must adhere to our philosophy. Philosophy: a system of principles for guidance in practical affairs Appear simple Look natural Be extraordinary Our philosophy is an introduction to our culinary beliefs. If after reading what it is you disagree or are uninterested, put this down, go somewhere else, you are wasting yours and our time. Our need to create a simple system to guide our culinary paths allows us to deal, no tackle the extraneous detours and roadblocks one faces in the culinary world. Similarly our philosophy enables us to face anything from esoteric ingredients to disgruntled patrons with a level of ease and comfort thus allowing us to create a balanced situation. Some would say we create. Truthfully we are just manipulating different ingredients to form a final gustatory presentation. We take cooking personally. It is our job, but it is also our passion. We are driven to push towards perfection. We continuously talk about balancing tastes in a dish as well as in a menu. Similarly, taste is affected by texture and temperature. Looking at food, being absorbed by food, being passionate with food allows one to have many sensory impacts on cooking. Is there a constant in cooking? The answer is yes. Everyday something changes, from the amount of water in a tomato to the mood in which we wake up in. So how then are we able to constantly cook great food. We paused here for a moment about whether or not we could write the word great for that would be showing off or patting ourselves on the back; but why shouldn’t we? We strive everyday to present culinary perfection. We are constantly climbing up a mountatin pushing ourselves to present the best to every diner. So yes we cook great food and it is what we strive to do day in and day out, despite a bad mood or a watery tomato. For there are many days when the sun is shining in the kitchen while it is truly raining outside. We have become aware that our constant is the lack of sameness, and that those fluctuations allow our food to continuously evolve. Approach to Cooking These are the principles which guide our interaction with ingredients and define the final dish. While our initial philosophy is simple and straight forward there are several more intricacies and guiding points which define and structure our approach to cooking. Thus it is important to note that we borrow definitions from the dictionary to introduce our approach to cooking. These definitions act as guides and stepping stomes in our world of cooking. simple—easy to understand or deal with It is important for us to make ingredients and the final dishes simple. That does not mean that the process or the application of efforts used to reach the end are easy to do. Rather complexities, intricacies and characteristics are hidden within the final simple preparation and presentation. Here is the case of the little things making the big things happen. natural— existing in or formed by nature Ingredients have a form or presence. While they can be dressed up or down, given highlights and accompaniments, an ingredient must still represent what it is. If not, then why did we choose to use that ingredient? extraordinary—exceptional to a high degree; noteworthy; remarkable We strive to work in this manner as well as find ingredients of this caliber and present them in this method of artistic execution. Everytining we are involved with must be extraordinary otherwise we are wasting our time. relationship—a connection, association, or involvement We are connected to food, ingredients, each other, the experience and life of cooking. Our relationship is personal. What we present or choose to deal with is based on our relationship with the ingredients and those who supply, grow, harvest or forage for them. Without a relationship there is no cooking. respect—esteem, admiration We have a personal involvement with cooking and food. We must have and present respect for what we are cooking, the procedures we follow and those and that around us which influence, drive, and guide our culinary approach: tradition, ingredients, innovation. refine -- to bring to a pure state; free or separate from impurities or other extraneous substances While we appreciate the natural structure and characteristics of ingredients, we must remove, trim and furthermore highlight aspects of ingredients to shape their natural core. The individuality of ingredients and there perceived role in the final dish dictate in which way we will need or choose to refine the ingredients. precise – exact in expressing oneself In order to refine ingredients, we must be exacting in our actions, feelings and approach to food. From start to finish precise actions will allow for an exacting path to be created and give us the choice of following it or straying from it. finesse – extreme delicacy or subtlety in performance, skill, discrimination etc. Demonstrates how our thoughts are executed. The need for finesse is applied to the entire process of cooking, tasting, manipulating, dealing, creating and envisioning food and its derivatives. technique – the body of specialized procedures and methods used in any specific field We have learned and adapted techniques and are simultaneously searching for new and old methods for dealing with ingredients and the process of cooking to which we can add twists, refinement or a new application such that new and old will add balance to our cuisine. original – capable of or given to thinking or acting in an independent, creative, or individual manner We push ourselves to have thoughts and actions based on the knowledge that nothing is truly new. Our knowledge, examination and interpretation of new and old cuisines in context with our approach and vision can get close us at least close to an original idea. taste–to test the flavor or quality of by taking some into the mouth; to perceive or distinguish the flavor of --a sense of what is fitting, harmonious or beautiful Taste has two key definitions for us. Without the process of tasting, what are we doing? We taste everything: good, bad, great, awful so as to build a structure of our own taste. It is the act of tasting which has molded or culinary beliefs, and given us the experience to express them. focus – a central point, as of attraction attention, or activity; to concentrate Dining and its role in our lives is what we concentrate on. Without focus there is no guide and our approach to cooking is lost. The alchemy of flavor alchemy: any seemingly magical process of transmuting ordinary materials into something of true merit flavor: taste, especially the distinctive taste of something as it is experienced in the mouth; a substance or extract that provides a particular taste; flavoring It is aftering defining our approach to cooking that we can then delve into the alchemy of flavor. This is where we put the practicality of our culinary approach into use; pushing and pulling ingredients so as to make them shine. Most ingredients have underlying flavors or parts of flavors. In creating dishes or garnishes we highlight or spotlight parts of these ingredients elemental flavors. The final touch: condiments which accent a cuisine Situational Substitution: the use of store bought condiments to highlight a meal Condiments: Homemade and Store bought there uses, alterations, inspirations and necessity for simplified cuisine. Many store bought condiments are great flavor platforms or accents for our cooking. From these initial bases we can then add our own influences or allow their flavors to influence what we are preparing. Tamari Ketchup Vinegar Matouks hot sauce Crystal hot sauce Tabasco Espelette pepper Dijon mustard Technologies Influence on Our Culinary Ideas and Experiments In Cooking Technology as an inspiration and influence on our cooking: thought process and them some science. Technology allows us to increase our thought process for with these tools and discoveries, new ideas stem right from them, allowing for greater culinary leaps. Freezer Paco Jet ISI canister Cryo-vac machine Spice Grinder Handheld Mixer Misto Low temperature ovens and Slow cooking Dehydrator Plastic wrap Juicer Food Saver—sous vide and jar cookery Agar agar and gelatin Smoker Mastering the Art of Improvisation master: eminently skilled improvise: to make, provide or arrange from whatever materials are readily available An existing repertoire and learned techniques, flavor bases and principles allow for open thought, changes, variations, extrapolations, leaps and falls. Failure allows for growth. It is the influence of science and more so proven culinary facts which then drive our spontaneity and allows for our freedom. If there are rules, than one can bend or break them. This is the evolution of our cooking such that the steps, influences, and methodology followed allows for this to happen. Rather it gives us the skills and the repertoire which enables us to act freely. Words, thoughts and quotes which have inspired us along the way. Do it right; all the time Cooking, as in life, is about small moments of coincidence In the end it is all about quality Do not mistake originality for creativity The little things make the big things happen Sources Olive oil Butter Meat Fish Cheese Spices Herbs Exotics Asian ingredients • Combi plate/bowl such that one can have a soup hot or cold with a separate garnish