> I just said Spanish cuisine became in vogue because of Ferran.
Maybe 20 years ago. "In vogue" in cooking changes every 3 years. See the rise of Peruvian cooking, Korean cuisine, or the incremental choice of vegan options on high end restaurants in the past 10 years.
> (before the internet no less)
Yeah in 1990-2005 the food culture of much parts of the world was under developed. That does not mean that it was the tradition of the country. You seem to conflate public knowledge with what a country is doing, and reputation and reality do not always match.
By the way the restaurant is called (was called) El Bulli, no idea why you called it Bulgi.
> Bombarding you with immeasurable flavour is a very Kansai (specifically Osaka)
I thought you said that it was not part of Japanese cuisine? You also disparaged sauces as elements used to hide flavour, when Japan is huge on sauces.
It is almost as if your "mantras" do not hold, even for the traditions you seem to cherish.
> There is something off-putting about what amounts to a client telling a cook about how something should be made, and then calling them supremely uneducated, don't you think?
Yes there is, hence why I admitted my snobbishness. But Me being a dickhead does not stop any of my points for being true.
You claimed the following things.
- Sauces are hindrance to dish that respects the quality of the products.
- You prefer Italian and Japanese traditions of cooking due to their minimalist approach and respect of seasonal offerings.
- You consider spiced foods detrimental to sophisticated palettes and the abuse of enhancers of flavours as an insult to delicate, respectful food items.
My reply was, as someone who also prefers simple, great ingredient dishes, that none of what you said holds up.
+ Sauces can be as much a staple of the dish as just something to hide the flavour.
Eg.
You can hide shit cow cuts with a strong pepper sauce which French cuisine (and British) excels at. But you can also have a delicate creamy peppercorn sauce that highlights all the earthy undertones of a good grass fed Ox steak.
You can use curry and curcumin to hide terrible chicken breasts or hard lamb. But it can also be a rich sauce that bring an orchestra of flavour (not unlike good teriyaki can be).
+ Japanese/Italian traditions antiquated over sauce based French/ sauced and spiced Indian.
Despite the fact that Italian has traditions that use heavy handed spices, in a way Mexicans would heavily approve of. There is also the very glaring omission of how much of traditional Italian food is straight up hiding bad ingredients. Lasagna uses cheese and bechamel to hide many times little or bad quality mince meat, it was a way to feed a large family with very little quality meat. And so are many traditional Italian dishes. Of course a refined carbonara is incredible, but back in the day, some hard cheese a random egg you had lying around and a little pepper was not delicate or considered one of the best emulsified sauces. It was a "oh god how do I feed my family with 3 random things I have lying around". The home aspect of Italian cuisine is incredibly relevant to the conversation because the use of seasonal vegetables comes using whatever was at hand, is an incredibly humble origin that makes it so much more worthy of the international appraise it has now.
Now in terms of Japanese Cuisine. Yeah they do have tons of minimalist, respectful products. But outside of the fact you admitted they have tons of flavorful dishes (you put them aside as street food but at least admitted their existence). I do not think you really have looked closely at some of the product origin. Japan has eel all year round by buying it at absurd prices from European markets, their fishing industry is dodgy (to not call it criminal), none of this is in any way in line with your idea of "local sourced, respectful product". There is nothing respectful about cutting red tuna properly and putting it on sushi if you're driving the animal to extinction.
+ Spices, in general, are great. Which is why a lot of the original salaries where paid in spice. I assume you are not against all spices, so there is a line you draw. Pepper and salt are ok, but cinnamon and curcumin are too overpowering. It just seems like being under exposed to some spices and finding them strong. In europe cinammon is mostly used in desserts so some dishes that use it in India can seem a bit off putting at first, but the truth is, that it has a great pairing with many dishes. Being unused to something and calling it bad are two very different things.
Considering the things you prefer, Peruvian cuisine will be down your ally. Of all the South American cuisines its the most delicate. Maybe that is a more gentle introduction into their flavour profiles. Same way lebanese is a good introduction to Middle eastern. Once you "get" those, the more extreme versions, like Afghan food, or Oaxaca mexican flavours.
Not sure if there is a good introduction to Indian food, as their flavour profiles are all very stark. But the British versions are all tailored for european tastes, so maybe that is a good stepping stone instead of curry snacks.
To answer some of your questions.
> do you study harvest dates for certain vegetable and fruit cultivars or trialed slaughter periods/season of livestock?
Did not have to, grew up buying in a market, so only seasonal stuff was available. You kinda get a knack for when things will be coming around. Now that I live near a supermarket I am sad seeing certain veggies all year round.
> I'd ask what have you done in this Industry to speak with such an arrogant tone?
Nothing at all, but I have no issue with personal preferences. But putting down thousands of chefs work as inferior is not an opinion, its just factually wrong.
> Nabemono. And yes, that is true but have you ever made one?
I was thinking more in line of Okonomiyaki and its thousands of variations, not really a respectful dish, more of a "lets see what we have around". (Also I meant to say hotchpotch and the autocorrector put hot pot, just saw why you mentioned nabemono).