Photo: Wayan Vota
By: Michael Engle
There are only a few aspects that are held constant in Gordon Ramsay’s television show Hell’s Kitchen from season to season. Shortly before the red and blue teams combine to form the “black team” (or, according to certain alpha-minded individuals, the “everyone for him/herself team”), each remaining contestant takes Gordon’s blind taste test. In this challenge, each person is blindfolded, given noise-canceling headphones, and asked to identify four simple foods, such as Swiss cheese, hard-boiled egg yolk, or cilantro.
However, the most significant challenge–which, according to Gordon, separates the cooks from the chefs–is the “Taste It, Now Make It” challenge. Each aspect of the contestants’ replicas are dissected, from the consistencies of their sauces, to the proper temperature of the appropriate cut of meat, and even to the decision between the use of prosciutto or Serrano ham. If, instead of under the scrutinizing eyes of Gordon Ramsay and the FOX cameras, you seek to recreate dishes in your own home, there is no such thing as a mistake that can eliminate you from a $250,000 prize. Instead, as Alina Dizik writes for The Wall Street Journal, making the perfect recreation of an old dish–in the absence, or with the incompleteness or ambiguity, of a written recipe–can channel a satisfying sense of nostalgia, while providing an invaluable link to family traditions and history.
Even though certain factors, such as equipment and ingredients, may change, memories and legacies imparted by “my grandmother’s way” can be disrupted by the smallest variation. [click to continue…]
Photo: Bruce Tuten
By: Melaina Gasbarrino
Cooking is truly an art form. We all probably dreamed about being a chef at one point in time, but in reality it is only for the strong-passionate-hearted type. The beauty of appreciating this ever-developing art form is that an endless supply of restaurants ensure the tip of our mouth is always watering.
Walking into a restaurant and sitting at the back right beside the chefs really is an experience in itself. You not only hear and see the chef at work but you are swept away in disbelief as to truly how much time and energy is put into each dish. It amazes anyone, of course myself included, at the sheer brilliance of watching a chef masterfully create some of the most extravagant dishes.
But when there is a lack of respect for the chef or the food, what if the chef had the right to kick you out? This was the thinking of Sushi King, Kazunori Nozawa of Sushi Nozawa. [click to continue…]
Photo: fotomicfoto
By: Michele Wolfson
Home Economics class has always had the reputation as an archaic schoolroom experience which had led many schools to remove it from their curriculum. Yet, the general idea of teaching children how to cook in school should in fact be re-examined.
With some updates, home economics class could be a valuable tool in the fight against obesity and can teach kids that cooking is an important way to maintain good health. This notion has brought cooking back to some schools across the country. [click to continue…]
The coolest events during the New York Wine and Food Fest that I got to participate in were, hands down, the cooking demonstrations for kids. I was lucky enough to do two this year and the first one was Fun and Fit in the City, sponsored by Target. It was held Saturday afternoon in my neighborhood of Harlem. Three other talented chefs joined me in the cooking demonstrations, Rocco DiSpirito, Melissa D’Arabian, and my good friend Andrew Zimmern. [click to continue…]
Photo: Ikhlasul Amal
By: Dylan Rodgers
When looking for apartments or houses in the US, it is common to wonder whether the kitchen stove his run by electricity or gas. At least in my time, I haven’t seen any other options. It may come as a shock that nearly half the people on the planet still use open flame, cooking stoves fueled by wood, coal, or dung. These traditional stoves wouldn’t be a problem if given the proper ventilation ducting, but the fact is that the majority of developing countries that use these stoves are poisoning themselves every time they cook. [click to continue…]
Photo: Jonathan
If you are one of the thousands who have a dream of one day becoming a gourmet chef, than most likely you are heading off to culinary school. What many people seem to not realize is that culinary school is extremely pricey and many are lured into various schools because of the job prospects the schools say will be offered after graduation.
[click to continue…]
Photo: Garrett Ziegler
By: Dylan Rodgers
What is “molecular gastronomy”? First off, careful who you say that to, and never call anyone of the food community a molecular gastronomist. They might brand your chest with a giant, scarlet “MG” letting everyone know your mistake. But what kind of witch craft could cause such a reaction? [click to continue…]
Photo: jking89
Wonder what astronauts are eating these days? Well, it’s not just the dry ice cream we remember as kids; those astronauts traveling to Mars are about to get a diet that’s a whole lot healthier and more convenient. For those chefs that traded in their dreams of being an astronaut someday, they might now get the chance to do both dreams jobs by traveling to Mars with future astronauts. [click to continue…]
Photo: Jeremy Jenum
Baking is a relaxing pastime for many. The truth is, it can get messy and stressful if you don’t have the right tools. [click to continue…]
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