Like Water for Choclate uses Magical Realism to capture the transformative qualities of everyday food and drink into something more. Also consider reading (and enjoying) Joanne Harris' amazing Chocolat.
Only a few days after Ferran Adria presented plans for his BulliPedia to members of the Hospitality Industry and the waiting press corp at the University of Barcelona, he released this stunning video documenting the concepts for his elBulli Foundation, set to open in early 2015.
To see the future of creative cuisine as envisioned by Ferran and his remarkable staff, take a few moments and view this film in which he lays out his very thoughtful plans for the Center.
All the components included are designed to preserve the original culinary discoveries of the historic elBulli Restaurant, create new culinary concepts, share them with everyone every where and finally, provide a mentoring environment for inquiry and innovation.
Your Culinary World copyright Ana Kinkaid/Peter Schlagel 2013
Tennis ace Andy Murray has just bought the multi-million dollar luxury Cromlix House Hotel near his Scottish home, just north of Edinburgh.
The US Open and Olympic champion plans to transform the grand Victorian manor house, where his brother Jamie married Colombian Alejandra Gutierrez in 2010, into a five-star destination.
Locates close to his home town of Dunblane in Stirlingshire, the refurbished hotel is scheduled to re-open next spring just ahead of the 2014 Ryder Golf Cup, which is being staged a short drive away at Gleneagles.
Murray said in a statement to the press: “By re-establishing Cromlix as a leading luxury hotel at the heart of the Dunblane community, we will be able to attract new visitors to the area, create a number of new jobs and focus on supporting other local businesses. I'm pleased to be able to give something back to the community I grew up in.”
The Cromlix House is set in 50 acres of breath-taking rolling woodlands and currently has 14 vintage bedroom suites, a beautiful wedding chapel, a baronial reception hall, two drawing rooms, a conservatory, a classic dining room, a well-stocked library and several meeting rooms.
The Eden Family, who have owned the estate for more than 30 years, is happy the property is passing to someone with a strong commitment to the local community. Future plans for the Hotel involve a Chez Roux restaurant.
ICMI’s managing director, Norbert Lieder, is confident that “'With Andy, we can create a very special hotel in his home community. While we aim to create a destination that attracts visitors from around the world, we are also determined to ensure it remains a venue of choice for local people”
Bravo, bravo, bravo!
Your Culinary World copyright Ana Kinkaid/Peter Schlagel 2013
Well, the Oscars have been awarded in Hollywood and congratulations to all. But there is one film the members of the Hospitality Industry are all waiting to see in wider release and that's El Bulli - Cooking in Progress.
If you have not had a chance to read any of the film's glowing reviews, just check out the movie's trailer and you'll run, not walk, to the showing nearest you or purchase the DVD for your permanent collection.
Truly an inspiring film about the nature and value of creativity!
POST NOTE, February 25, 2013: It’s finally confirmed! THERE WILL BE A SECOND FERRAN MOVIE!
The movie will focus on the drama of the young apprentice chefs going through the restaurant's famous training program. Besides Adria, the main characters will be his Chefs de Cuisine--Eduard Xatruch, Mateu Casanas, and Oriol Castro
There will also be a stunning range of stagiares: Katie Button, an American former biomedical researcher turned chef; Luke Jang, a Korean who paid his way to El Bulli by working in a slaughterhouse; Andrea Correa, a Colombian chef who gets to be Oriol's personal assistant; Roger Alcaraz, a son of Catalan goat farmers; and Gael Vuilloud, a young French chef who can't quite pick up Spanish.
But the big question is: Who will play Ferran? Abend has always thought of Johnny Depp in the central role.
And while no one can doubt his talent, for this role, he might have to gain some pounds.
But what better way to gain weight then while studying (and savoring) the cuisine for this world famous Chef and his amazingly talent staff.
Your Culinary World copyright Ana Kinkaid/Peter Schlagel 2013
As everyone in the Hospitality Industry knows, Valentine's Day is a crush of guest and expectations.
So why not take a moment and laugh as you watch this compilation of Dos Equis legendary adman and then agree with us that chefs, who are always asked to achieve the impossible, are the "most interesting men in the world"!
Just substitute the word "Chef" for "the most interesting man in the world" and you have it! Enjoy and remember - Valentine's is only one day in the year!
Your Culinary World copyright Ana Kinkaid/Peter Schlagel 2013
While watching the fifth episode ofDownton Abbey, Season 3, many of the show’s observant viewers noted that when the American Isobel Crawley hosted a thoughtful luncheon after the death of Lady Sybil, Ethel Parks, the disgraced housemaid, served a final course entitled a “Charlotte Russe”.
No dessert could have been more appropriate, especially after Lord Robert Crawley burst in, shocked that his family was being served by the former prostitute. Christian charity was one thing, but in his eyes, the family’s reputation was quite another matter.
Yet, perhaps his mother, Violet Crawley, the Dowager Countess of Grantham, knew quite a bit more about both life and culinary history when she remarked dryly on seeing the Charlotte Russe, “It seems a pity to miss such a good pudding.”
For you see, the Charlotte Russe is one of those grand dishes that comes with an equally grand pedigree. Its creator was the legendary French Chef Marie Antonie Careme, who history remembers as “the King of Chefs, and the Chefof Kings”.
High praise that, and yet, it is totally true. He not only cooked for the leading powers of his day (Talleyrand, Napoleon, George IV and the Czar of Russia), he defined the toque as the classic chef’s hat, clarified the four “Mother Sauces” and established “service a la russe” as the accepted form of table service in polite society.
It was while he was working for the shy Czar Alexander I of Russia that he created the Charlotte Russe. “Russe”, of course, refers to Russia. (Can you say, “Make your employer feel important by naming something after his country”?)
But who is Charlotte? Charlotte was the sister-in-law of the Czar and was married to George III of England. (Yes, ‘that’ George of ‘Lost the American Colonies’ fame). After the fall of Napoleon, for whom he had worked earlier, Careme had been employed by King George’s son, the Prince of Wales (and future George IV).
While serving the English Prince, he had observed and had come to admire the quiet nobility of this former princess from the tiny German state of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, who managed both a mentally unstable royal husband and a family of 15 overly ambitious children(!)
At the same time she also mentored the careers of Bach and Mozart and supported scientific discovery in the field of botany. The world famous Royal Kew Gardens exist today because of her keen support and insightful interest.
But her contributions do not stop there. Truly a woman ahead of her times, she founded orphanages and hospitals for expectant mothers. She supported education for women, especially for women “to whom life had not been kind”.
So you can see why Careme named a dish after this remarkable Queen, for he had seen enough of life himself to understand its many hardships and the need for rulers to address them.
Whether it was intentional or not,Julian Fellowes, the author of Downton Abbey, could not have picked a better dessert for the 'fallen’ housemaid, Ethel Parks, to serve. She was exactly the kind of women Queen Charlotte had sought to lift up and support. Even the other Downton ladies joined Isobel in her defense. Or as the grand Lady Violet note, neither a pudding (nor a life) are, should be foolishly wasted.
We can be thankful then that the esteemed Careme, in the cold snows of Russia, showed more awareness and compassion to the twists and turns of life by naming a dessert after this courageous Queen than did Lord Robert with his hot tempered moral lecture at the luncheon table.
Equally, the twist and turns of culinary history should often serve to remind us all within the Industry how even the simplest of actions, a kind word – a thoughtful gesture, can enrich lives beyond our knowing. And that, perhaps, is something to always remember, whether we serve upstairs or down.
Your Culinary World copyright Ana Kinkaid/Peter Schlagel 2013
Thursday, March 21, 2013 at 6:46PM 
