by Kyra Martin

When I was in culinary school I expressed to my chefs that I was interested in becoming a food critic. They all told me similar things: learn the basics, work in a kitchen for several years to develop your knowledge and skills and then try writing about it. But they forgot a basic element, writing ability. “In my opinion you have to be able to write first–about anything.” You can’t be a writer without knowing how to write, as pointed out by food writer Michael Ruhlman.

I recently had a chance to interview Mr. Ruhlman about his career.  “I wanted to be a novelist and a journalist. When I turned to the topic of food and cooking …the work suddenly flourished.”

Originally intending to write non-fiction narratives, Ruhlman had proposed an idea for a book to his publishers. He wanted to infiltrate the Culinary Institute of America, one of the most prestigious culinary schools in the country if not the world, and write about what they taught the next generation of chefs. What did it really take to become a culinary titan?  After several months of waiting with little back and forth, the green light was given and in 1997, his book The Making of a Chef was published.  From there one thing led to another and soon enough, Ruhlman had established a known and respected name in the food world.

One of the first big breaks Ruhlman had was when he was hired to help Chef Thomas Keller write The French Laundry Cookbook. Already an established icon in the culinary world, Keller was doing things in California’s Napa Valley that were gathering worldwide attention. It was an incredible opportunity that lead to a long, and continuing, relationship with Chef Keller.  After successfully completing the French Laundry book, other chefs began to take notice and soon, some of the biggest names in the culinary circle were seeking the Cleveland native to assist in writing their cookbooks.

Though he may not officially be a chef, Ruhlman certainly counts as a culinary authority and has developed his own culinary style. “My style is casual and easy with strong flavors and very little visual design in terms of plating…” Something his wife, Donna, the food photographer, has had to learn to overcome when snapping pictures of his food. “I’ve adopted a variety of techniques taken from other chefs and put them to use in my own cooking.”  Ruhlman also has the rare experience that many food writers don’t have: working the hot line at a busy restaurant. “It was 150 degrees at my grill station, literally. As soon as I got the French Laundry gig and Making of a Chef was about to come out I gave my two weeks. I wouldn’t last 2 consecutive nights on the line at my age.” It’s an intense and humbling experience to work the line.

Overtime, Ruhlman began to compile his own recipes despite it all. “I hate recipes,” he admitted to me in our interview.  Soon enough his first cookbook was published and several more have followed.  His most recent book, due out in August, is an ode to that most loved of cooking ingredients- Fat. The Book of Schmaltz: Love Song to a Forgotten Fat is all about the love of rendered chicken fat and how it can impart flavor to so many things in so many ways. “This country loves fat. Eating fat is not what makes us fat. …The idea that fat is in fact good for you in small doses has called attention to [the] fact that if you avoid processed food and cook your own food you get skinnier and healthier.”  Ruhlman also writes about his love of cured meats in Charcuterie, a book dedicated to fat and salt, and with an updated version soon to published. A love shared with close Cleveland friend, Chef Michael Symon, well known for his love of the stuff.

So what does a prominent food writer keep in his fridge, something we all can relate too. “My fridge is a nightmare I have clean out when I get home, packed with food … cooked for photography for [the] new book. But I would be seriously bummed if there weren’t some good parmigiano reggiano in it. Fave not in the fridge…red boat fish sauce.” Having myself worked in kitchens for a few years, there is an unspoken love between all culinarians and their fish sauce. They put it in everything. Chances are you love fish sauce and just don’t know it yet.

And what books would an award winning cookbook author recommend: “New Pro Chef 5th Ed, my CIA text book. That and Pepin’s La Technique. What it all comes down to.” When I was in school this was something my chefs couldn’t reiterate enough to us. You have to know the basics before you can embellish. And if you really look at your recipes, you will start to find that they all have the same basic qualities. Do those right, and you’re well on your way to becoming an excellent cook.

As a final farewell, I concluded by asking what advice he would give to people thinking of becoming food writers or chefs. He said, “Don’t do anything for money until you know what the fuck you’re talking about. Second, know what the fuck you’re talking about. Which is very rare.”

I feel incredibly lucky to have had the opportunity to speak with someone who has worked with so many people I look up to. Someone who has done so much in their career and looks to be only climbing higher. I highly recommend looking into Mr. Ruhlman’s writings, especially Main Dish; a short and heartwarming essay about how it all started.  Ruhlman’s books can be found on Amazon or on his website www.ruhlman.com.

Despite his disdain for recipes, Mr. Ruhlman was kind enough to let me re-publish one here. The original can be found here: http://ruhlman.com/2010/01/america-too-stupid-to-cook/

The World’s Most Difficult Roasted Chicken Recipe

Turn your oven on high (450 if you have ventilation, 425 if not).  Coat a 3- or 4-pound chicken with coarse kosher salt so that you have an appealing crust of salt (a tablespoon or so).  Put the chicken in a pan, stick a lemon or some onion or any fruit or vegetable you have on hand into the cavity.  Put the chicken in the oven.  Go away for an hour.  Watch some TV, play with the kids, read, have a cocktail, have sex.  When an hour has passed, take the chicken out of the oven and put it on the stove top or on a trivet for 15 more minutes.  Finito.

About the Author: Kyra was trained at Le Cordon Bleu in Seattle and graduated highest honors with her diploma in Patisserie and Baking. She is currently working as a personal chef and is also the Community Manager for CookEatShare.com.

Lora Krulak sent me a copy of her cookbook “Veggies for Carnivores” early this Fall and Nancy and I have been trying various recipes from it. It’s relatively small for a cookbook and refreshingly informal. It reads like you’re standing in Lora’s kitchen and she’s telling you what she likes to make and why. In many cases she’ll give you options for various ingredients to use. She doesn’t assume you’ll have exactly her taste, so she gives you guidelines and let’s you explore.

If you feel that you don’t get enough vegetables in your diet because they usually aren’t cooked with enough flavor, this is a great book for you. Lora does not shy away from bold spices and flavors, and the dishes we’ve tried have been bursting with flavor. To try a sample recipe from the book and see if you like it, try this Chopped Salad with Sweet Basil Dressing Recipe. You can view some of the pages of Veggies for Carnivores on Amazon.com.  Thanks for sharing it with us, Lora!

2012 ACF National Convention

ACF is heading south to the Sunshine State for the 2012 National Convention, July 14–17. We are returning to sunny Orlando, Fla., for another unforgettable convention. The Orlando World Center Marriott Resort will host this jam-packed, four-day convention, offering exceptional educational programming and networking opportunities.

For more details, visit ACF’s Website.

Central Coast Wine Classic

A hallmark of the 28th annual four-day event on California’s Central Coast is the popular Dinner at Hearst Castle in San Simeon during which guests are seated at a terrace in view of La Casa Grande, the Greco-Roman swimming pool and the Santa Lucia Mountain Range. Other events will include winery dinners and tastings, a cheese tasting symposium, live and silent auctions, cooking demonstrations and a concert featuring stellar percussionists. Ancient Peaks, Center of Effort and Sinor-LaVallee are a few of the 50 California wineries that will be providing their finest Chardonnay.

Visit Central Coast Wine Classic’s site for more information.

Festival del Sole

Napa Valley Festival del Sole returns for a seventh season of world-class music, dance, food & wine. Highlights include performances by Joshua Bell, Danielle de Niese, Susan Graham, Nathan Gunn, Hélène Grimaud, the Russian National Orchestra, and members of the Bolshoi Ballet, plus the Napa premiere of the innovative 24 Hour Plays.

Details can be found at Festival del Sole.

Bastille Day

Bastille Day is the French national holiday that celebrates independence and freedom and commemorates the storming of the Bastille prison on July 14, 1789. Angelenos will join in the celebration of Bastille Day and the spirit of Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité on Sunday, July 15th, 2012, at the Kenneth Hahn SRA  (4100 S. La Cienega Blvd) just south of Jefferson. with French gastronomic delicacies and live entertainment.

Visit Bastille Day Los Angeles for more info.

L’Eté du Vin

Summer welcomes the return of America’s oldest wine charity event, which traditionally entails bidding and imbibing, with wine and dinner complementing the live auctions. For its 33rd year, the charity at the luxury Loews Vanderbilt Hotel in midtown Nashville is scheduled to feature “a new and exciting format.” This year, wine will be paired with six courses prepared by Loews restaurant executive chef Elaine Taubin.

For more information, visit Nashville Wine Auction.

In March, CookEatShare.com released its Cook View for the iPad and other tablets. It utilizes HTML5 to create a remarkable experience that’s exclusive to tablet users. All you need to do is find a recipe you like on CookEatShare, click the iPad Cook View link below the recipe summary.

The HTML Cook View is a great tool if you like cooking with a recipe open on your iPad. It places the ingredients and directions side by side in separate scrolling boxes so the user never has to scroll up and down the page itself.

There is a slide to help keep track of what step you are on. When you touch any step in the recipe, the slider automatically moves and highlights that step. You can also increase or decrease the font size with a touch.

The Cook View is available for all recipes, over 500,000, found on CookEatShare.com.

Earlier this week I had a chance to interview Mark Bittman, author of the new Food Matters Cookbook.  Mark is the author or a number of successful cook books including “How to Cook Everything” and  “How to Cook Everything Vegetarian”.

Given that I’ve made a personal journey towards eating healthier foods over the past 8 years or so, I wanted to talk to Mark about his new book and get his thoughts on marrying the love of good food with the desire to live a long, healthy life.  He turned out to be a very funny and enjoyable person to talk to.  I hope you enjoy it!

JOHN:   Thanks for your time Mark.  I began a personal journey towards eating about 8 years ago when I read Dr. Joel Fuhrman’s Eat to Live.  It was a great book on nutrition, but didn’t give many clues about how to make nutritious food taste good.  Is your new book Food Matters and attempt to fill this gap?

MARK:   I think Fuhrman cares mostly about the nature of food rather than about how good it tastes.  I hear he eats raw broccoli straight out of the freezer.  If it’s green he eats it.  He doesn’t care what it tastes like.  He’s not just mostly vegan, but mostly greens.  He thinks that beans and grains have too much caloric density for their nutritional density.  I mean he’s a guy who eats a head of romaine every day.  That’s a lot of romaine.

That said, I think we both agree that there is a lot to learn from him.

JOHN: Why did you choose to write Food matters?

MARK:  There are two parts to that answer.  Over a period of 20 years, it became clear to me that the food system was broken and the quality of all food was declining, but that the quality of meat was declining fastest.  Also, about 6 years ago it became clear that the human race needed to eat more of a Chinese, Colin Campbell* style diet, not a western diet.  The key to that was going to be less meatarianism and more of a plant based diet.  As a result of that I wrote how to cook everything vegetarian, I read Fuhrman and a UN report about the relationship between industrial livestock production and global warming. Then my doctor told me when I turned 57 that I had some of the typical middle-aged things going on – overweight, high cholesterol, etc. – and that becoming vegan would fix it all.  I told him I couldn’t become completely vegan and that‘s when I began doing my vegan before 6 thing.

The original Food Matters was a summary of all that, and while I think that vegan before six works for me, I don’t push it as a solution for everyone. I do, though, believe that there is almost no one in this country who wouldn’t benefit from eating more plant based foods and less of everything else, and that is direction I’ve gone in.  And Food Matters cookbook, which is my latest book, is a practical guide towards how to do that.

JOHN:  Did you have a book called Vegan Before Six or is that just a title you give to only eating meat at dinner?

MARK:  It’s just a phrase.  The two books are Food Matters and the Food Matters Cookbook.  Food Matters is more of a manifesto with 75 recipes.  Food Matters Cookbook has 500 recipes and is more of a how to book. Let’s remember that we all eat vegan food all the time: Green salad is vegan, spaghetti with tomato sauce is vegan, fruit salad is vegan.  We just need to expand those choices, and to make them more often, to eat more plants and less meat every day.  During the day I try to stay the strictest vegan possible…no processed foods of any kind, no white bread, white rice, white pasta.  Mostly unprocessed vegetables, fruits, legumes, and whole grains. There are days when I’m less strict, and days when I’m vegetarian or vegan for dinner too.  It’s not always just before six.

There’s another thing I’d like to address too.  There’s such a thing as social meat eating just like social drinking.  There are times when you are cooking or eating alone and you can do exactly what you think makes sense.  Then when you are with other people it kind of breaks down very quickly, or it can anyway; meat-eating is social, as is over-eaitng.  Certainly it takes more discipline.

JOHN:  Do you have a family Mark?

I have a wife but my kids are grown.

JOHN:  I ask because I have 4 kids between 3 and 12 years old, and my wife cooks most frequently during the week and has to cook food that will appeal to our entire family.  When I first read Eat to Live, I tried to be pretty strict.  But my kids wouldn’t eat a lot of it.  Some changes have been kept.  We eat mostly brown rice (we mix it 60/40 with white rice).  We eat a lot more vegetables and legumes (beans and lentils).  We also eat healthier pasta (whole wheat or Barilla plus).  But we’re back to eating quite a bit of fish, chicken and beef at dinner time.

MARK: Well I’m not going to give you advice about your family.  But you can probably get away with a vegan pasta once or twice a week and a vegan stir fry once or twice a week, but I’m not sure if you can get away with it seven times a week!

JOHN:  Right.  Sometimes we’ll change the ingredients for the kids or for me…substituting tofu for me vs. chicken for the kids for example.  Back to the book.  How did you come up with the 500 recipes in the book.  What’s your methodology for collectcing them?  Have you tasted most or all of them?

MARK  They have a variety of origins, but most of them are recreated classics in a less meatarian style, and I’ve tested all of them.  I’m excited about them and think they are really great.

JOHN:  In the book do you make a point of recommending organic vs. regular fruits and vegetables?

MARK:  I think the right answer is that if you can afford to buy organic, then do.  But if not, it’s much better to eat lots of regular fruits and vegetables than to eat mainly meat.

JOHN:  Does that apply to organic meats as well.

MARK:  You know, here’s the thing about meat.  If you want to eat grass fed meat, that’s OK.  But we kill 10 billion animals a year in the United States.  You are not going to do that sustainably no matter how hard you try.  If you want to eat better meat, that’s great if you can afford to of course.   But you still have to eat less.  It’s got to be less.

JOHN:   What’s your thought about red meat vs. pork, vs. chicken vs. fish

Fish is a complicated issue , but the ranking is that chicken is better than pork, which is better than beef.  This is true from a sustainability conversion ratio, and also for the health aspects.  But I would say that you should not start eating chicken seven times a week, though chicken is probably better than beef.  For health reasons I don’t trusty any of them:  They are all raised industrially and I think that’s pretty bad.  I would say for personal health reasons just eat less of all of them and don’t worry too much about which one you eat.  What I mean is, don’t eat chicken thinking that it’s health food.  Eat small amounts of whatever tastes best to you.

JOHN:  What’s your take on tofu and other vegetable based meat substitutes?

I don’t consider tofu a meat substitute; it’s a real food.  What I consider a meat substitute is when you take tofu and process the heck out of it and turn it into something you call tofurky or tofu pups .  And I’m not anti that brand…but all the fake sausage and chicken.  To me that’s all utter junk.  My crusade is not anti-meat, it’s less meat, but it is anti-processed food.  As my friend Marian Nestle says “Organic junk food is still junk food.”  You have to look at things individually.  Just because something is vegan or organic doesn’t mean it’s good for you.

JOHN:  What’s your opinion on eating raw vegetables vs. cooked vegetables?   I often blanch my spinach a bit.  It tastes better to me and I can eat a lot more of it that way.

MARK:   I think it’s whatever makes you happy.  Some vegetables release nutrients when cooked and others retain them better when raw.   In order to make this whole thing as simple as possible so people can get it without a whole lot of trouble, I say just eat plants.  There are people who say white potatoes are bad.  I say just eat plants.  Don’t start trying to distinguish between them.  Just eat more plants.  This is where I start to part with Fuhrman.  Don’t say this plant is better than that plant, because you just confuse the issue and make it harder for people.

JOHN:  Are there any tips for making this easy that you would recommend?

MARK:  I eat some whole wheat pasta, sure. Canned beans are also a convenience, but I personally don’t find it that hard to cook beans.  But mostly I would say find a couple of meals a week where you can start to substitute a non-meat, non-processed food meal for a meal in which you would eat meat or processed foods.  The core message is not about buying some specific food, but getting vegetables and whole grains into your diet on a regular basis at the expense of processed junk and animal products.

Take a look at Mark Bittman’s CookEatShare profile and check out a few of the recipes from the Food Matters Cookbook.

For more information on the Food Matters Cookbook and Mark’s other books, please click here:  http://content.markbittman.com/books

*Colin Cambell wrote the China Study, a great book comparing the health impact of different diets in China.

This is a light and flavorful as a main dish or side dish. It’s a perfect side for any grilled meat or fish.  I make it pretty frequently during the Spring, Summer and Fall.

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1 1/2 cups long-grain rice
• 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
• 1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon fresh oregano, minced
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/8 to 1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes
• 2 cups chopped spinach leaves
• 1 red bell pepper, finely chopped
• 1 small cucumber, peeled, seeded, and finely chopped
• 1/2 cup chopped green onion
• 1/2 cup chopped kalamata olives
• 1 cup crumbled feta cheese

Directions

1. In a saucepan, bring 2 1/2 cups water to a boil. Add 1/2 teaspoon salt and the rice. Turn heat to low, cover, and simmer 15 minutes. Remove from heat and let sit 5 minutes. Uncover and fluff with a fork.
2. In a large bowl, whisk lemon juice, olive oil, garlic, oregano, pepper, pepper flakes, and remaining tsp. salt.
3. Add rice to dressing and toss to combine. Add spinach, toss, and let sit until no longer steaming, about 20 minutes. Add remaining ingredients and toss to combine. Serve at room temperature or cold.

This is how it looks when you are done!

This is an excellent and flavorful way to cook fish that I adapted from the Barbecue Bible. I had a large, whole salmon (not a smaller snapper or pompano as recommended), and was hoping the flavor would be strong enough to impact the Salmon. Boy was I pleasantly surprised! The fish came out delicious and my guests all asked me to put it online as soon as possible. So here it is!

Ingredients

• 1 whole salmon, cleaned
• 1 cup fresh lime juice (or lemon juice)
• 1 cup water
• 1/2 cup kosher or sea salt (or 1/4 cup regular salt)
• For the SPICED BUTTER
• 6 Tbsp Butter
• 1.5 Tbsp fresh lime juice
• 1 Tbsp soy sauce
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 large shallot or 1/2 small onion minced
• 1 Tbsp minced fresh ginger
• 2/3 tsp ground turmeric

Directions

1. Rince and dry fish. Make 4-5 diagonal slices to the bone in each side of fish. Put in a baking dish large enough to hold (you may have to wrap tail around a bit to fit).
2. Combine lime juice, water, and salt in bowl and whisk till salt dissolves. Pour mixture over the fish in dish, turning once or twice to coat. Cover and marinate for 30 minutes.
3. Preheat grill to medium-high.
4. Put butter, lime juice, soy, garlic, shallot, ginger and turmeric in a bowl, cover loosely, and microwave for about 2 minutes till melted. Alternatively, melt on stove in a heavy sauce pan. Remove from heat and let cool.
5. When grill is hot, drain the fish and reserve the liquid (called bumboo). Bursh each side of the fish and inside with the spiced butter, working the butter into the cuts. Then spoon some of the reservedbumboo over it. Spray the grill and the outside of the fish with an olive oil spray (or other oil spray) and place on the grill.
6. Grill for about 10 minutes, basting with any additional butter and the reserved bumboo. Then carefully turn the fish, and cook an additional 10 minutes, again basting with any remaining butter and bumboo. (This timing will work well for a 3.5-4 lb salmon. Adjust for a smaller or larger fish.)
7. Using a spatula, carefull transfer the fish to a serving platter. Serve whole, to be eaten with the fingers. Or fillet using this method:
8. Remove head (if still on). Insert a knife in the back bone of the fish and slice from head to tail. Holding the tail in one hand, use the knife to carefull peel the lower fillet from the bone. Gravity should help if fall off the bone. Then turn the fish over and scrape the knife along the bone to dislodge the other fillet. You should be left with just the bone in your hand which you can discard.

Here’s how it looks!

Let me know how you like it!

Like everyone, we want to eat great food AND stay healthy.  That means balancing nutrition and watching calories.  So CookEatShare has added nutritional information to the over 50,000 reicpes now available on the site.  How did we do it?  We take the ingredients listed in each recipe, parse them, and compare them to a list of over 5000 ingredients compiled by the USDA.  Then we take the nutritional information for those ingredients from the USDA database and calculate a per recipe and per serving amount.

This works perfectly about 90% of the time.  Sometimes though, the system gets tricked.  Ingredients may be mis-spelled, or may include words or symbols that make parsing difficult.  Also, the system can’t tell which ingredients are discarded.  So if you use a quart of oil to fry a chicken, it assumes you and your guests will be eating all that oil!  So if the numbers look off, take a look at the “nutritional details” page which is linked at the bottom of each nutrition profile.  There you will see exactly the nutritional composition of each ingredient in the recipe.  I’m adding a screen shot below.  Here’s to healthy and tasty eating!

Nutrition Facts on Recipe Page

The first World Summit of Gastronomy opened February 9^th for 3 days near Tokyo station. This event was presided over by former Japanese prime minister Koizumi and Princess Hisako. It brought together in one place for the first time the world’s top chefs like Joël Robuchon, Ferran Adrià, Heston Blumenthal, Nobuyuki Matsuhisa, and Yukio Hattori. Chefs demonstrated their latest techniques, shared their recipes, and discussed the future of the gastronomic arts. This event was impeccably executed and is an important milestone in worldwide culinary cooperation.

 How does a 3 day event in Tokyo on food have an impact on me and you? That is what I wondered as I headed to the event. Monday was a cloudy, chilly February day. People were bustling to work in parkas and coats with fur trim. I pressed past them and descended the long escalator to the event reception and then yet another to the expansive event halls deep within Tokyo International Forum. Here I entered another world.

The world of gastronomy and culinary delight is one that is vast and accelerating. The research, experimentation, and cooperation are bringing new tastes to people. How about a sorbet made of sake? Have you ever seen watermelon that looks and cuts like red meat? Why would you want to cook your food in dirt?

I would have thought there would be a world summit every year on food, but it is apparently easier to get the world’s top political leaders together than it is to get the world’s top chefs together. This is the first event of its kind. It took more than two years to make it happen. In fact, perhaps it takes a little political and royal power to make such an event happen.

The presidency of Tokyo Taste was held by one of the most popular prime ministers in Japan’s recent history. Junichiro Koizumi was the 87^th, 88^th, and 89^th prime minister of Japan. That alone is impressive for a country where prime ministers change frequently. He has been a tremendous advocate of getting more people to visit Japan. Princess Hisako added royal flair as the honorary president.

Mr. Koizumi recounted the story when he met the president of France Jacques Chirac. At that time, Paris had some 50 million visitors every year whereas all of Japan had a mere 5 million visitors. The two talked about why Paris attracted so many. Mr. Koizumi noted the beauty and tradition of the city, but Mr. Chirac added, “we have French cuisine.” Mr. Koizumi retorted, “Japanese food is very good.” To this, Mr. Chirac replied, “then why don’t you promote it?”

People get together every morning, noon, and evening to eat. “Culinary as Culture” as Princess Hisako noted is what differentiates us from animals. We eat not just to get energy and nutrients, but to enjoy the tastes, emotions, and memories that go with our meals.

Think Japanese food and at some point you will be led to soy sauce. Think soy sauce and at some point you will be led to Kikkoman. The CEO from Kikkoman who was the Executive Committee Chairman for the event stated the three objectives for Tokyo Taste. 1) To educate and train young chefs, 2) To introduce and promote Japanese food as a brand to the world, 3) To raise awareness of SHOKUIKU.

Shokuiku is a Japanese word. “Shoku” means food and “iku” means education. Shokuiku means to learn about food, build good eating habits, and have a balanced diet. It is more than a word. It is a movement and embodies the spirit of Tokyo Taste in the slogan “Let’s shokuiku.” In Japan, shokuiku is also law. Japan in 2005 became the first country in the world to enact a Basic Law on Shokuiku.

Michelin Guide was also represented by Jean-Luc Naret. About a year and half ago, they launched in Tokyo. Michelin sold some 300,000 copies of their guide on Tokyo within 5 weeks. Overall, Tokyo has 227 Michelin stars. This is more than double what Paris has. Paris may have more visitors, but Tokyo is the place to come for taste.

The chefs who participated in Tokyo Taste have had influences from Japan. Some of these influences are subtle and some have been profound. An influence does not mean that Japanese food itself is added as an item to the menu, but rather ingredients, preparation, and presentation impact the food of a local culture. Like a pebble in a pond, the energy of the wave may disperse as it ripples out, but it reaches all.

Joël Robuchon who has the most Michelin Guide stars of any chef in the world remarked at his surprise some 30 years ago of the slurping sound Japanese make when eating soba noodles. Why Japanese do this has more to do with taste than etiquette. He noted how yuzu, soy sauce, matsutake, and wasabi used to be unheard of in French cuisine, but now are readily found. Seafood carpaccio is directly tied to Japan’s tradition of sushi and sashimi.

Ferran Adrià the owner and chef of elBulli in Spain is the acclaimed pioneer in cuisine of the unexpected. His contact with a Japanese ingredient was some 20 years ago in the form of soy sauce, but it took nearly another 15 years before he came in contact with many of the ingredients that every Japanese home chef knows. Those ingredients now find themselves as regular components of his recipes. He sees the past 10 years as a revolution, “We share our recipes and include each other. We want to be a model to millions of people. Gastronomy is culture and we never forget that.”

Yukio Hattori is the original Iron Chef. He also runs the Hattori Nutrition College. He is an instigator of good. His efforts were key to bring about Tokyo Taste. As with Iron Chef, his college, the Basic Law on Shokuiku, and Tokyo Taste, he works to educate and engage. Despite the demands on his schedule, he could easily be found at the start of the event each day greeting the visitors. He is the embodiment of the word “host” and acts in a mission to share with others all that Japanese cuisine has to offer.

Heston Blumenthal of the Fat Duck in the U.K. loves the Japanese word “Umami”. Umami is the 5^th sense of the palate along with Sweet, Sour, Bitter, and Salty. It is something that the Japanese have known for centuries through Bonito, Konbu, and other ingredients. It is something that chefs in the West have not understood directly, but have realized indirectly through various cuisine like combining tomatoes with parmesan cheese. He found that the tradition of tossing away the tomato pulp near the seeds as had often been taught in Britain was a mistake. That pulp is rich in Umami and delivers more taste to react with meat. He found that sherry has compounds that enhance Umami

Chef Blumenthal’s first visit to Japan gave him inspiration to revisit his own British cultural kitchen with a different set of eyes. British food is all the better for it. In this return to Japan, he repaid the primarily Japanese audience with a treat. He navigated through the story of his creation of a Christmas dinner. He distributed two unique tastes to every member of the audience. One was a melt-in-your-mouth thin strip of film imbued with frankincense. The other was a wafer with slight scent before eaten and strong aroma after of the freshness of a baby. I have no further words to describe the experience.

Nobuyuki Matsuhisa is perhaps the best ambassador of Japanese cuisine overseas with his restaurant Nobu in New York and some 21 other restaurants around the world. His early struggles were trying to find ways of getting American patrons to try various raw food and to teach people what goes on in preparing Japanese food. He recounted a story of some 15 years back where at a food and wine festival in Carmel, he became mad at someone who said it takes just 10 minutes to make Dashi. Dashi is the soup stock filled with Umami used in much of Japanese cuisine. Chef Matsuhisa argued that it took 2 years to grow konbu and 2 months to dry it and that it took 6 months to dry bonito fish. The flavor comes from the ingredients. The care and attention that goes into the ingredients directly bears down on the end flavor.

Chefs Robuchon, Adrià, Hattori, Blumenthal, and Matsuhisa sat in low chairs around a table discussing the variances and use of Oriental Dashi and Western Dashi. They noted not just the taste of Umami filled Dashi, but the ingredients to make it and how the food from East to West differs. Chef Hattori spoke of the difficulty he had trying to create Dashi in Europe because European water is harder with more calcium than Japanese water. Chef Matsuhisa countered that there was a way to make good Dashi with hard water.

Chef Robuchon noted that in France soup can be a meal, but not in Japan and that Japanese soup is served too hot for Western taste. Chef Adrià spoke to the use of a knife and fork and the impact this had in the kitchen; without a knife and a fork at the table the size and texture of the food prepared in the kitchen will be different.

Chef Blumenthal spoke to the balance of dishes. The balance is not just in the taste, but also in the textures. Flavor is when aroma (sensations of the eyes and nose) and taste (sensations of the mouth) meet together in the brain. How flavors are revealed makes for the meal. For example, dishes should get lighter as the meal progresses. Chefs need to do more than just prepare in the kitchen, they need to promote food from a social awareness point outside the kitchen. Anyone who can make someone go to the market, buy a raw ingredient, and cook it is doing something very powerful.

The summit continued Monday afternoon, all day Tuesday, and Wednesday morning with top chefs demonstrating their techniques, devices, styles, and combinations. Seiji Yamamoto showed how to grill to perfection. He explained how to grill Ayu sweetfish where the angles were just right and the head of the fish became deep fried in its own fat while on the grill. He knows his fish well. He went to the extreme of having an MRI performed on a Hamo (pike eel) to learn the bone structure and to perfect techniques at cutting to avoid crushing the bones thereby retaining flavor and moisture in grilling. Hamo is great for Umami; it requires no seasoning. A good match though is the matsutake mushroom.

Grant Achatz of Alinea from Chicago who is at the forefront of the molecular gastronomy movement has created ways to surprise the palette with cold and hot served together. His emphasis far from the food alone; it is on a triumvirate of Design, Food, and Service. He has had bowls created that will not balance on the table, so the server must hand the dish to the customer. This creates a delight of the senses beyond taste and smell. Even the color of the clothes worn by the server alter the experience of the dish.

Tetsuya Wakuda is not sure if he is still Japanese. With so many years abroad and one of the best restaurants in Australia and in the world, he cannot be sure if he is still Japanese or Australian. He has added the flavors of Japanese cuisine in quietly to French cuisine. His efforts are responsible for an ever growing variety of Japanese ingredients in the Sydney area as he works with local producers. His philosophy is that discreet flavor enhances.

Juan Mari Azrak was one of three Spanish chefs at the Tokyo Taste. Chef Azrak is third generation in the same restaurant. His creation includes serving lobster on a bed of white olive oil that is made to look like cottage cheese. Andoni Luis Aduriz also of Spain delivered very powerful and directed presentations of his cuisine. He is seen as the next generation to lead Spanish chefs forward.

Not just chefs, but those more of the academic background such as Hervé This the mainstay advocate of molecular gastronomy presented. Also speaking was Jacques Puisais of the French Institute of Taste.

There were many other chefs such as Massimiliano Alajmo, Pierre Gagnaire, Bruno Menard, Yoshihiro Narisawa, Kunio Tokuoka, and Dong Zhenxiang who also presented. Exhibition halls displayed side presentations, ingredients from various regions of Japan, new food products, machines and devices for food preparation, and an assortment of wines.

For all the techniques demonstrated, knowledge shared, participants, press, and chefs, my amazement was to learn the unexpected. To learn that the tastes of Tokyo had traveled and were impacting the tastes of the world. To learn that all these people had come together from great geographical and cultural distance to create a new milestone in gastronomy. It is my hope that another world summit in two years time can be held and mark one of the best ways to bring people together; through cooking, eating, and sharing.

By Japan Correspondent Sherwin Faden

© Sherwin Faden 2009

OK…this is largely cut and paste from a recent press release.  But I couldn’t let it go without mention on the blog.  CookEatShare now provides seamless integration with Facebook through the Facebook Connect Platform.  Members of both sites can now receive updates on their Facebook pages when their CookEatShare Friends or a Professional Chef they subscribe to posts recipes or reviews on the cooking site.

“I spend time on Facebook communicating with my friends and family, and this new functionality gives me instant updates when new recipes or reviews are posted on CookEatShare.  As a busy mother of two young boys, it’s really helpful not having to check multiple sites for the information that’s most important to me,” said Aspen Lee-Moulden, a Member of CookEatShare.com and Facebook.

Existing members of CookEatshare.com can simply click the Facebook Connect icon when they sign into the cooking site.  New members can select the icon when they sign up for CookEatShare.com, which is free.  Essentially, this means you can share your recipes and reviews with all of your facebook friends whether or not they are members of CookEatShare.  If you haven’t yet…please connect your account.  It’s fun!