Monday, December 8, 2008

A history of smoking

Every one knows its addictive and the earlier you start the harder it is to give up. I started at age twelve and have no intention of ever giving up. I love it, the aroma, process and end result all make me happy. So I have been smoking whenever I get the chance for over 15 years now, doctors tell me it has had no adverse effects on my health and may even be beneficial due to the freshness. I do admit that I have had stages where my addiction has got out of control, smoking everything in sight, multiple times a day. Smoking feels like a Sunday thing to me, take you time prepare a beautiful cure, match flavors, share with friends. Building smoking apparatus is relatively easy and you can smoke using a wide variety of flavors and techniques. Hot smoking is the quickest and easiest and this is what I am referring to, nothing ignites my senses and stimulates my appetite like the anticipation period when the sweet salty aroma wafts through the air producing a smell that on more than one occasion has sent someone running into my gallery concerned about something burning but usually sends people into a frenzied over eating attack once served. My favorite accompaniment is white bread and butter for fresh from the smoker fish. Yes I have smoked plenty of other things but Kahwai remains my preference often becoming a target species when fishing. Chefs seem to have an obsession similar to mine but more focused on coming up with the most inventive thing to smoke, and for now the nominations are smoked coke for an ingenious bourbon and coke, smoked flour for pasta and vanilla for ice-cream. Kind of makes me feel boring with my habit, I have ventured into vegetables and meats but always end up returning to my beloved seafood.

Green tea and black rice smoked New Zealand King salmon battling yuzu polenta crusted Norwegian farmed salmon with white aspagagus, heart of palm and orange ginger jus

Thursday, December 4, 2008

4 to 6

well the 4 star place actually got six. Still it is wanky and over the top, fun reading or rather criticizing the review when you know more than the reviewer.
http://www.timeout.com/newyork/articles/restaurants-bars/69236/corton
His lavender mustard foamy thing is awesome, his dishes so labour intensive it takes two chefs a day to prep one but cool if you can do it and boring if you have to do it 80 hours a week.
So here is a review, without eating at a restaurant.
Corton is trying to be a serious contender for the top fine dining restaurant in manhattan, without a chef with a comparable reputation to Thomas Keller it is going to be hard to compete with Per Se. Chef Paul Liebrandt has serious talent and potential as does the concept, in these difficult times the top end food and service is accompaned by reasonable prices. Everyone is making a fuss over the from the garden salad, just a pile of veges on a plate showing off many flavor combination and cooking techniques arranged artfully in a five stage plating process consisting of 20 or 30 seperate elements. For some it may seem over handled, others too beautiful to eat for me just over the top. The fois gras shows outstanding care and skill in its preperation and plating but the flavor falls short of the visual appeal. Scallops with their modern art look deserve gallery space and the dining room provides it, the flavors are fresh rich and clean, the tweezer skill required to arrange them is surgeon like. Green olive sponge starts you off with a delightful bite of cleverly ingenuitive microwave ability, the puffed buckwheat worked well with its oyster. As for the main show if you like the texture provided by sousvide cooking you are spoilt for choice. The finale is the star, caramel brioche with a touch of stilton and beatiful ice-cream and heaps of balancing flavors that took me to thailand without the heat.
Yeah I want to eat their but i dont think they take hodded rifraf.

Wednesday, December 3, 2008

Aphrodisiac recipes

So this is the latest turn in my cooking career. I am writing recipes for males that want to increase their stamina. It is looking good I might even get a recipe or two published although I am finding it hard to write crucial instructions like drink one hour before intercourse or eat until you feel horny.
Just sounds ridiculous.