Eloise Nimoityn
I enjoyed our trip to COOK because of the atmosphere and their attention to detail. First off, the kitchen and the outside and inside of the building is beautiful. The two chefs made five different dishes for us, each plated beautifully. Although I am a picky eater, I got watch them make interesting foods, such as the sponge. I liked how they thought it was just important that the food looked good, like Shola, because it made me want to try things I have never tried before, such as goat cheese and tamarind. Just like Shola, these chefs cared about the food they were presenting to us. Even though I am more familiar with and eat the food Shola prepared for us better, the chefs made me want to try the food because of the science behind them and their meticulous plating. I thought that the sponge and foam they made was very interesting. They kept whipping the foam to add air in it, making it very light and airy. The different textures and flavors of the fennel was also unique. I learned about different textures and flavors of foods and putting different ones together in the same dish; for example, I liked how he put the salty cheese with the sweet quince, and added a crunchy cracker.
I enjoyed going to StudioKitchen and COOK because there were similarities and differences. At StudioKitchen, we got to watch Shola use his machines and learn about molecular gastronomy while at COOK, we got to also learn about some chemistry and see the precise plating. One big difference between the two is that Shola made simple food but made it taste really good, and Chef Allen made fancier more complicated food. I could tell from all of the chefs that they have a great passion for food. Shola does not cook in a restaurant but still cooks because he loves to. Chef Allen worked at restaurants but he also enjoys teaching and sharing his passion with others, as he did with us. I thought it was interesting that when we asked Shola and Allen what type of food and restaurants they like, they gave us honest answers, but were very open and never talked down about any restaurant. They seem to enjoy cooking but also trying other people’s food. All of them also wanted us to ask many questions because they wanted to teach us, which shows their fascination and enthusiasm.
I agree that Shola focused more on the chemistry of the food and that his dishes were simpler. I think he made his dishes simple, like pasta and pizza, because the chemistry behind them was still interesting, and he had intriguing tools and techniques to make each. Chef Allen also used interesting machines, but I think he focused more on complex dishes, too, while using different techniques combined.
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