Hear No Evil

Feel free to click this link and listen to a nice Around Noon. At about 30 min. in there's a Crooked River Smokers mention. They also cover what to do with a Bourbon Red. Originally a cross itself, the breed raises questions as to what really constitutes a heirloom. As it goes, it's just a matter of time before the Green Zebra gets that curious distinction.

And speaking of heirlooms and traditions, this evening I found myself in a conversation about the fried caesar salad cube I enjoyed at Komi. Also the foie gras cromesquis I had while in Montreal (both discussed last post). One conversation participant abstained from comment on the fried cubes of goodness. The other, a friend and chef I couldn't respect more, noted that that wasn't "real food." Bull shit. Look to art for a parallel. Even conceding that I'm a sucker for most things Dutch, I think it's hard to say that Van Gogh's impressionist paintings are not "real art." The francophiles have Monet (this exhibit introduced me to Michel Richard). I'm not bagging on the stuff that came before them (Rembrandt, another Dutchman, is just fine), but those guys were "real" artists making "real art." At least I think so.

So now, and for a while now, we have people breaking tradition with food. Moving from the norms and traditional processes. Shocking. Can you imagine the reaction to the first person who confited a duck leg in Gascony? Some person saying "My god man, we ROAST ducks, we don't SIMMER them in fat." Maybe that's not the actual origin, but I don't have this book to check. I do like my version though. Either way, someone tried something new and came up with something delicious. Sure, it might have required the use of a crock instead of a spit. It also may have required a long slow cooking time instead of a relatively short one over a fire (kind of sounds like sous vide, which is apparently all the rage these days). Regardless, some things work, and over time the things that don't hopefully fall by the wayside. All I know is that the fried caesar salad was fantastic. And I know it was real because I ate it.

Needless to say, in my happy hour glory I failed to compare molecular gastronomy to an art movement. Not that it would have gotten me too far. That chef is pretty sharp, and pretty rigid. That's probably why I love her restaurant (the pictures on the site don't nearly do it justice).

Pic courtesy of Jon Sawyer's blog. And thanks for the propers.