Simplicity

 

I read a quote today that I really like.  The 1800s French chef Urbain Francois Dubois said this:

"The ambition of every good cook must be to make something very good with the fewest possible ingredients."

The is a nice statement.  The simplicity of food can be advantaged in a way that doesn't require us to add dozens of separate ingredients to make something really delicious.  There is a beauty in making something with strawberries, for example, that has so few ingredients that the flavor of the berries can't help but come out with strength.  But sometimes with simplicity, it's not just the flavors of a single ingredient.  You can make something with a small handful of ingredients and still have two separate flavors come out boldly -- strawberry lemonade, for example.  

Sometimes I will see a recipe that has literally dozens of ingredients.  Sometimes that is reasonable such as when making a stew or soup that we expect to have many different things in it.  But sometimes the number of ingredients is such that one has to wonder if half of them even make a difference.  You can argue both sides of this issue. Sometimes a massive number of ingredients does make a difference, indeed.  But not always.

But in general, I love the idea of focusing on few ingredients and letting those flavors be bold and powerful.  

Making a food with only a few ingredients is always nice from a practical point of view as well.  Their is a simplicity in the production as well as the content.  And that means it's quick and easy.  

Whether a recipe calls for only a few or many ingredients, what matters is the enjoyment one gets from making it and eating it and sharing it. 

But I love that quote.  It's a good one.  And it can remind us to focus on simple flavors.

Food experiments

In every kitchen with an active cook, baker, or chef, all across the country, experiments are going on almost every day.  The vanilla poppy seed muffins which I like to make, shown in the photo above, came about because of my own experiments.  I wanted a good vanilla muffin with a streusel topping and poppy seeds and all I could find were lemon poppy seed recipes.  After creating my own recipe, I eventually found other recipes for a similar vanilla-based muffin with poppy seeds.  But the one I have was entirely crafted by me.

I, like many other denizens of the kitchen, love to experiment.  Sometimes these adventures involve only subtle changes with ingredients.  Others involve complete remakes of something old into something new.  And some sound crazy when first verbalized but then turn out great when completed.

One of the weirdest things I have ever heard of, though, I read about this past week.  There is something called a sequin salad that used to be made several decades ago.  In fact, Jell-O even put out the recipe as something to use it's product for, sometime back in the 1950s, I think.  I'm not sure whether Jell-O originated it or if it came from someone else, but here's what it is.

Sequin salad - vinegar soaked vegetables, such as cauliflower, red peppers, onion, pimentos, etc., seasoned with salt and pepper (sometimes) and suspended in lime Jell-O.  

I can't imagine even in my wildest creative, most imaginative moments that I ever would have come up with an idea like this.  I didn't find a lot of information online about whether or not this was really enjoyed back when it was made.  I only could discover that it doesn't seem to be made anymore, and most people who come across this example of wild food experimentation are also as incredulous as I am.

Now, if anyone who reads this has ever tried this or is willing to try it and report back, then please do so.  As for me, I can't even bring myself to put this salad together.

I will continue to experiment, but probably never with something as wild as this idea.

Noticing details

 

Good morning!  So far, this month has been so extremely busy that I didn't even realize I was behind on posting here.  So I will try to catch up.

Lately, as I have been working on plans to take this food enterprise further, I find myself noticing details more and more when I'm out at other food establishments.  I notice what seems to work in terms of service.  I notice when it seems customers are happy and when they are impatient.  I notice the decor.  I notice the constancy, or often the lack, thereof, of quality when I eat someplace more than once.

Basically, I keep tweaking my ideas in my head again and again based on what I see that either works or doesn't work in the food world as I'm able to explore it. 

These details may or may not cause significant changes in what I want to do with my food.  I already have a well-honed set of ideas that is governing what I want to develop.  But I still continue to look at details both small and large. 

OK.  That's all for now.  But I will post again soon.  Today I'm studying cake rusk.  Haven't had it?  It's wonderful.  Think of it like biscotti, only it's pound cake.

I'll explain more later.  Have a great rainy (at least if you are reading this in Kansas City) Monday, everyone!