Revolution RX

Now more than ever conservatives in the culinary world are finding good grounds on which to lay their claim that contemporary gastronomy is too precious. The emergence of ubiquitous restaurants boasting a “back to basics” philosophy of ingredient-centric food undoubtedly has shifted the focus of gastronomy from an art practiced by artists and enjoyed by those with appreciation to its current state as a sort of pop art popularity contest, wherein chefs rip off traditional preparations and techniques to incorporate the finest ingredients in such a way that they never get their due from the taster: who needs a $30/lb cheese in a grilled cheese?

More proof of this comes from the design of the modern kitchen, which places form far above and beyond function. With all the sleek lines and clean countertops, classicists are undoubtedly correct in their assertion that the new generation of chefs lets their kitchen dictate their repertoire. The result is that the kitchen hinders creativity by its being complete: how’s a chef supposed to make a puree if he has no place to keep a blender? And how is he to grill a chicken if he has no grill?

The result is such precious creations as “cream of asparagus, reconstructed” in which the ingredients for cream of asparagus are muddled together with a mallet in a chinois and then strained to create what can only be described as a creamy asparagus broth. A dish like “broiler fried chicken” could surely only be the creation of some demented chef whose modern kitchen didn’t permit him to keep his simple above-counter fryer, lest it clutter the counter top that his kitchen designer convinced him to buy. This all goes to show that in a time when the new generation has sworn that the old generation is just set in their ways, that the new generation is – as it always has been and always will be – just too young and inexperienced to know any better.