Anna Karenina and Vodka Equal Great Chemistry

We can thank the Russians for great literature, and of course, for vodka. And this fall we will get both.

Kicking off the winter season is a new movie that creatively re-envisions Leo Tolstoy's great heroine, Anna Karenina.

Directed by Joe Wright and starring the breathtakingly beautiful actress Keira Knightley, it is staged on a stylized inclusive theater set, designed to reflect the closed world of values that sought to control the last days of czarist Russia.

The film’s elegant style is sure to affect culinary trends this fall including vodka cocktails, caviar service and all things grandly Russian. 

Yet few in the culinary world would connect the creation of science’s esteemed Periodic Table of Elements (something every chef interested in molecular experimentation should have) with the creation of Russian vodka.

Yet Dmitri Mendeleev, who labored long and hard to develop the Table, also used his amazing skills to define the precise formula to produce the perfectly balanced vodka – 40% alcohol by volume.

For that we should thank him most hardily. Thank you, thank you!

And yet, there is not a single vodka cocktail that honors him (or Tolstoy) by name.

Perhaps that omission will be correct this winter as the message of the new Anna Karenina movie reminds us all that the vital right to decide our own life’s course is a freedom to be treasured - and protected. 

To that we at Your Culinary World gladly raise our glasses!  We hope you do as well.

Post Note, November 30, 2012: In a creative marketing move that must be a reflection of current trends, the new Anna Karenina movie props are for sale on the Internet, including tables, chairs and mother-of-pearl cutlery. Amazing times these! Beautiful bargains! 

Your Culinary World copyright Ana Kinkaid/Peter Schlagel 2012 

InterContinental to Build the Ultimate Eco Hotel in Old Chinese Quarry

Hats off to the InterContinental Hotel System for what must be one of the most stunning land reclamation project to come along in a long time. 

Working together with the British firm Atkins (engineers for the 2012 London Olympics) and Shimao Property officials in China’s Songjiang District within Shanghai, InterContinental has started construction on a 19 story hotel complex to be built in an abandoned and very ugly former stone quarry.

At first glance the site seems totally unsuitable for a luxury hotel but the designers are planning a total revitalization of the area. When it opens in 2015, the 380 guest room resort site will feature a towering waterfall, expansive lake, and an underwater restaurant.

With such amenities and an opening rack rates of $320 per night, what chef wouldn’t want to be on this property’s culinary team? 

Your Culinary World copyright Ana Kinkaid/Peter Schlagel 2012

Amazing New Farming Technique Could Make Food Available Almost Everywhere for Everyone

A new company, Agricel, has developed a new way to farm that requires 90% less water than traditional agricultural methods demand and uses 80% less chemicals yet produces 50% higher yields. Quite an improvement, no?

The secret is Skygel, a unique thin polymer film that acts as a sponge and can hold 1,000 times its weight in water.  Each internal cell with in the film absorbs and holds water and plant nutrients, safe from evaporation and surface loss.

As a plant’s root system tap into the millions of waiting water cells, it is essentially guaranteed its own growth reservoir no matter its location as long as there is sunshine, real or artificial.

With the world’s population ever increasing, both aerial land and free flowing clean water will become rarer and rarer raw resources. As a result, chefs around the world are growing concerned about the availability of future ingredients.

Now, thanks to Yalman A. Khan and Kunal G. Wadhwani, founders of Agricel, the film farming process is now available after extensive testing in Japan, China, Pakistan, Nigeria, the U.A.E. and the U.K.

So take heart if a rare fruit or vegetable is required by your favorite dish – soon it might be growing in your own backyard from Dubai to Las Vegas, all thanks to Agricel! 

 Your Culinary World copyright Ana Kinkaid/Peter Schlagel 2012

Glenn Close Shines in New Hotel Movie Albert Nobbs

Movies about service within the hospitality industry are few and far between, especially ones that portray the history and heritage of style that still hallmarks all legendary hotels to this day.

And while so many of us in the industry can laugh with understanding while watching the very funny Fawlty Towers, we still might long for a more serious presentation of what service can require.

Now, thanks to the fabulous actress Glenn Close, we can in the new film Albert Nobbs.

Based on a short story by George Moore, we follow the life Albert Nobbs, who is a butler at the Morrison Hotel in 1890’s Dublin, Ireland. But Mr. Nobbs has a secret – he is actually a she.

No, this is not a film about gender preference but rather about the decision to hide and survive for only as a man could “Mr Nobbs” obtain a living wage in conservative Victorian Ireland.

Yet as the years pass Mr. Nobbs serves others so perfectly that “he” almost forgets his/her feelings within and the precious dreams beyond the day-to-day of "may we serve you?".

And who among us with the industry, especially during the rush (and crush) of the holiday season does not know that feeling of so much for others, often so little for ourselves, as we endlessly smile and serve?

This is an outstanding movie – beautiful to watch, touching to see.  It is well worth the viewing and one that the Oscars should acknowledge for Glenn Close captures in a single steady glance the true heart (and price) of service served then and still today.

 Your Culinary World copyright Ana Kinkaid/Peter Schlagel 2011

Warner's Food Landscapes Are Perfect for Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas Displays

Well, we should correct that title - actually Carl Warner's imaginative landscapes, crafted entirely from edible foods, are absolutely eye-catchers year round. 

And his stunning images created from piles of cheese and pieces of bread more than prove that point. Trained as a photographer, he uses silver fish fillets to create a simmering sea and bacon to reproduce a country waterfall.

Add in a skilled support staff at his London studio and the latest in digital imagery software and results are those that any chef can envy (and want to duplicate).

If you are inspired, check out his recent book, Food Landscape - it is truly amazing and can reminds us all that true creativity is boundless and exciting. 

Why not then create something different this holiday season and truly put your culinary talents 'on display'?

Your Culinary World copyright Ana Kinkaid/Peter Schlagel 2011