Take 30 minutes to reflect and write on our experience today with Chef Allen.
Your reflection should be about 1 page single-spaced and then posted to the blog. Consider the similarities and differences between our visit to StudioKitchen. How (if at all) did Chef Allen display his passion for cooking? What new scientific techniques or explanations did you learn?
Your reflection should be about 1 page single-spaced and then posted to the blog. Consider the similarities and differences between our visit to StudioKitchen. How (if at all) did Chef Allen display his passion for cooking? What new scientific techniques or explanations did you learn?
Cook yesterday was very different than Shola. There were more cooks in the kitchen and it was a much larger kitchen at that. Shola seemed to have more technology, where as Cook seemed to work with texture in a more conventional way. Doug manipulated texture but combining foods that I would never have thought of to put together like the trout with the sponge and mint and mustard. I didn't love the food that was cooked at Cook but I appreciated how intricate and technical their approach to cooking is.
ReplyDeleteYesterday, Kitchen Chemistry went to Cook, in Philadelphia. There, we were given a demonstration by Chef Allen specifically on texture and its different forms. Similar to Studiokitchen, Chef Allen explained his process for making his dishes and answered our questions with ease.
ReplyDeleteThere were some differences between Studiokitchen and Cook. One difference was that Shola cooked more simple dishes that he could make perfectly. Chef Allen tended to make more complex dishes with multiple components. While the Cook food was incredible, I prefer the food from Studiokitchen more because it is more simple. I can imagine myself implementing some of the techniques and cooking the foods used by Shola more so than Chef Allen.
Another difference between the two chefs is that Chef Allen was more conventional in his career. He works in a restaurant and has been in the restaurant business, in one way or another, for most of his life. Chef Shola does not work in any one restaurant and does not like to be compared to “normal chefs.”
Chef Allen definitely showed his passion for cooking. Simply talking about how he worked his way into the field made him light up with excitement. It is true that Allen belongs in a kitchen and nowhere else. Considering he lived in Japan for a couple of months cooking and studying the art of Japanese food also shows that he committed to bettering his food and himself.
Overall, I enjoyed the experiences of eating at Studiokitchen and Cook, but I liked Studioktichen more. It appealed to the side of me that prefers to eat common foods than fancy foods. The food at Cook was eye-opening and it showed me another side of the culinary field.