Showing posts with label Cooking. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Cooking. Show all posts

Wednesday, May 25, 2016

Launching Today. Tasteology: source, chill, heat and experience

Launching today! Tasteology – a new documentary series uncovering the essential steps to the ultimate taste experience

Tasteology is the name of a new AEG-initiated documentary series uncovering the four steps required to achieve cooking results that are multisensory, sustainable, nutritional and delicious all at once. The four-episode series invites viewers on a culinary journey around the world to gain inspiration and knowledge far beyond TV cooking shows. Insights are gathered from different kinds of experts, such as a psychologist, a chemist, a food waste activist and a famous Instagrammer, who all share their answers to questions traditionally posed to chefs. Tasteology launches on May 25 and is available to watch on YouTube and at www.aeg.co.uk/tasteology

Tasteology seeks out the answers to the ultimate taste experience from new angles and expert perspectives. The ambition of the film series is to look far beyond traditional cooking programmes and to guide the viewer towards new paths in search of the ultimate taste experience. 

Recipes and cooking methods may get the most attention when it comes to preparing food, but that’s only part of the picture. AEG’s mission is to look beyond this step to explore different aspects and levels of taste, as well as how to achieve its full potential. The result is a portrait of the four essential steps to better food: source, chill, heat and experience. Each episode of this documentary series is dedicated to one of these aspects, digging into culinary traditions and unconventional innovations in order to uncover the processes to achieve the perfect taste. It’s about finding new ways to cook and eat food that is both tasteful, multisensory and sustainable. Hands-on cooking tips are mixed with cultural, societal and scientific reflections.  

Why rather than how  
While many educational resources focus on how to cook a meal, often step by step, instructed by chefs, Tasteology takes this one step further through seeking out expert knowledge on why certain methods, circumstances and tools create exceptional taste experiences. By gathering insights from new and different kinds of experts, Tasteology brings new perspectives to an area that has long belonged to traditional chefs.  

An eight-month journey and handpicked experts from three continents
The film crew travelled to a large variety of destinations over an eight month period collecting insights from the world’s premier taste experts. Mentioning just a few, the team met with ‘the father of molecular gastronomy’ Hervé This who invented ‘the perfect egg’, food waste activist Tristram Stuart who wants to change society’s attitude towards wasting food, and the famous Canadian Instagrammer Chef Jaques la Merde, who makes beautiful, plated creations out of food from the nearest gas station. These experts have a wide range of backgrounds and hold knowledge within different fields, but are united around their insatiable curiosity for taste. 

The four themes: source, chill, heat and experience
Each of the four themes cover essential steps in the process of creating an exceptional taste experience. Here is a sneak peek at the story of each 15-minute episode:  

‘Source’: Watch the episode here 
How does one source the best ingredients in order to take taste further? And how is taste affected by the lost nutrients of today’s mass produced food? Is it true that food cravings are our natural way of making sure that we get the nutrients our body needs? Explore these questions and learn about foraging, a trend that goes back to basics, respecting the ingredients’ true, original taste. Meet with foraging trendsetters and chefs Satchiko and Hisato Nakahigashi, who own a Michelin starred restaurant in Kyoto and explain the meaning of ”Tsumikasa” – a Japanese word for respecting food. In this episode we also meet with Mark Schatzker, the American author of The Dorito Effect, a book exploring what artificial flavours have done to our eating habits. 

‘Chill’: Watch the episode here 
Perfect taste starts with respect for the ingredient and the knowledge of how to handle it correctly. While the world continues to amass huge amounts of food waste, few people have discovered the key to reducing it – storage. And what’s the point in investing in good ingredients if you don’t know how to store them properly to achieve maximum taste? Meet with the British food waste activist and author, Tristram Stuart, who has devoted his life to decreasing the amount of foods being wasted. We also meet with the German chef and Wagyu cow breeder Ludwig Maurer for insights and expertise on how to store ingredients in the optimal conditions to enhance taste and reduce waste. Finally, we meet Culinary Misfits - a Berlin-based duo doing what they can to campaign against the increasing waste of fruit and vegetables that are thrown away just because they do not fit within the measures of cosmetic standards.  

‘Heat’: Watch the episode here 
Get to know how cooking a dish in the best conditions can take taste further. Using humidity in cooking is a thousand-year-old trick that spreads heat evenly and makes food more succulent and flavourful. Learn about the importance of precise heating in various cooking methods, the benefits of using steam or sous vide, and what it takes to create the ‘perfect egg’. Meet the French gastro-chemist Hervé This, the man who taught the world how to boil an egg in a dishwasher. Finally, we meet Catalina Vélez, one of the world’s most influential Latin-American chefs. After digging deep into traditional Columbian food culture, she discovered that steam was the main ingredient of great taste.  

‘Experience’: Watch the episode here 
Good food is more than just a good recipe. It’s about the whole experience. How much of the eating experience actually comes from taste? How do colours, sounds, the weight of cutlery and the shape of the plate affect our overall taste experience? Meet Professor of Psychology, Charles Spence, who shares his research on how the brain helps us to understand what the food is likely to taste like before actually tasting it. He also shares knowledge on how to play with surrounding influences such as sounds and colours to affect our taste experience. Charles Spence works closely with Jozef Youssef, author, chef patron and founder of the gastronomic project Kitchen Theory. Together, their united mission is to understand the full taste experience. 
Tasteology Experience: Charles Spence

‘I think a lot of people ask if science gets in the way of creativity and then you have those who say ‘doesn’t the creativity get in the way of science?’ For me it’s all about understanding how to compose the colours, sounds, smells and atmosphere into a complete harmonious taste experience. In order to do that I need to strike the perfect balance between science and art,’ says Jozef Youssef, author, chef patron and founder of the gastronomic project Kitchen Theory. 

In this episode, we also meet Chef Jacques la Merde (also known as Christine Flynn), a famous chef and popular Instagrammer with over 125k followers who makes beautiful plate creations that looks like fine dining, but in reality the food comes from the nearest gas station. 

The documentary is initiated by the home appliance manufacturer AEG with the mission to explore different aspects and levels of taste and inspire the viewers on how to take it to the next level. The film series is produced by the award-winning production company House of Radon.

Press release

Saturday, November 12, 2011

SIX TOP YOUNG CHEFS IN EURO-TOQUES FINAL

Its Hotting Up in the Kitchen
Euro-toques Young Chef Competition 2011 – Finalists announced

The temperature has been high in the kitchen and now the finalists, six outstanding young professional chefs from around the country, have been announced (8 November) each competing  for this year’s Euro-toques Young Chef of the Year 2011.

The Euro-toques Young Chef of the Year, in association with BIM & Failte Ireland, is the only professional culinary competition in the country based around local and artisan food ingredients. Through mentoring and training based prizes the competition aims to contribute to the professional development of promising young industry professionals.

Despite the recession the number of skilled chefs in Ireland significantly falls short of the demand in Irish kitchens and restaurants; many qualified chefs travel abroad and not enough return home!  For 21 years, the Euro-toques Young Chef competition has been searching for – and nurturing - the future culinary talent of Ireland.

Celebrating this achievement are Kamil Dubanik (23) from Knockranny House Hotel, Westport; Aisling Gallagher (24) from Ballynahinch Castle, Galway; Kyle Greer (24) from No 27 Talbot Street Belfast; Micheal Harley (22) from Rathmullan House, Co. Donegal; David Magaeen (24) from Restaurant Victoria Belfast and Margaret Roche (23) from The Cellar at The Merrion Hotel Dublin. (detailed biogs below).

Such industry chefs as Paul Flynn, Ross Lewis and current Euro-toques Commissioner-General Gearoid Lynch are involved in the competition judging, along with representatives from competition partners BIM and Failte Ireland. Candidates, who must be under the age of 25, submitted a written recipe entry and were then shortlisted for interview and a blind taste test. From these two stages, six finalists were selected to compete in the final.

The heat is now on!  These six finalists now have the next 3 weeks to devise and practice their dishes for the culinary skills test final in Chapter One Restaurant on Sunday 27th November. They must prepare and plate 2 portions of an original dish, using Dublin Bay Prawns and Achill Island Turbot, and present it to the panel of 5 chef judges for tasting, within 70 minutes. On the skills test judging panel Paul Flynn (The Tannery Dungarvan) and Ross Lewis (Chapter One Restaurant Dublin) will be joined by Lorcan Cribbin (Il Segreto Restaurant Dublin), Marc Amand, MD La Rousse Foods and panel chair Neil McFadden. Both Cribbin & McFadden have competed for Ireland on a World Stage in the renowned Bocuse d’Or and know what it takes to compete at that level.

In addition, over the next 3 weeks, the six young finalists will also need to perfect their dishes for a tasting menu which will showcase their talents for state, industry and media guests at the 5 star Merrion Hotel Dublin on Monday 28th of November. Each of the finalists will be introduced to guests before their course is served. At the end of the presentation lunch  the 21st Euro-toques Young Chef of the Year will be announced.

Despite the recession the number of skilled chefs in Ireland significantly falls short of the demand in Irish kitchens and restaurants; many qualified chefs travel abroad and not enough return home!  For 21 years, the Euro-toques Young Chef competition has been searching for – and nurturing - the future culinary talent of Ireland.

“We are crying out for talented, hard-working chefs in our kitchens right now” commented Gearoid Lynch, Commissioner General Euro-toques Ireland at today’s event.  “It is very heartening to see young chefs such as these six, who are willing to push themselves, aim ever higher and who see a future for themselves in this industry. This competition allows us to contribute to their development as chefs and also to hold them up as examples to those who may come after them; both in terms of what is expected of them, but also what they can achieve. It is also hugely important for us to recognise the experienced chefs who give their time and commitment to training future talent. Our competition partners BIM and Failte Ireland have recognised the role that chefs have to play in promoting Irish food and tourism, and we must ensure our industry lives up to that expectation by investing in its future”.

The competition emphasises training and development, with the role of the mentor being central to the process.  This years sponsors are BIM and Failte Ireland and their involvement reflects their recognition of the importance of chefs in building Ireland’s national and international food reputation, the pivotal role that ‘local food’ plays in this and, above all, their commitment to education and development in this sector.  This year’s competition is also supported suppliers La Rousse Foods, Findlater Wine & Spirit Group and Bragard, and Industry partners The Merrion Hotel Dublin, The Ivy London and Chapter One Restaurant.

The top prize for the 2011 Young Chef of the Year will be the opportunity of an all-expenses paid stage at The Ivy, London's favourite restaurant, under Executive Chef Gary Lee. Plus a one week stage at the award winning Michelin star Chapter One restaurant in Dublin under the tutelage of Euro-toques head chef Ross Lewis.

Among the overall prizes, each of the finalists will win a unique food experience with BIM and Failte Ireland. BIM will host a one day practical on-site introduction to the complex world of the seafood industry, visiting a seafood facility and discussing how fish is caught or harvested, bought, and sold, and what this all means to a chef. Including meetings with key industry personnel, processors and industry chef.  Failte Ireland will host a Food Tourism road trip - an educational 4 day food focused road trip taking in ‘hands-on’ cooking time  in top professional kitchens, visits to artisan food producers;  tastings, demos, unique meal experiences  and overnight stays with exemplary Irish food and hospitality operators.

For more info, including biogs of the young chefs, read here...

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

TOO MANY RABBITS TO COUNT


Rabbit recipes, that is! Dylan McGrath's rabbit recipe grabbed the attention in a previous round of Masterchef on RTE. We've got easier ones here, possibly harder ones as well. Check for yourself.


Rabbit stifado

“This easy recipe will be definitely used again time and again.”
CheffieMonster

COOKING WITH ELVIS


CORK ARTS THEATRE
The outstanding Bruiser Theatre Company have a sizzling treat for us.

Cooking With Elvis Directed by Lisa May 
 
Cooking with Elvis is an explosively funny shock to the system and definitely not for the prudish! A tragic farce about domestic turmoil, sex, loss, regret...and cooking!  
First performed in 1999, winning accolades from audiences and critics alike at the Edinburgh Festival, writer Lee Hall (of Billy Elliot fame), gives the script a wicked, darkly comic feel, combining pathos and humour, making this thoughtful romp hotter than an Elvis hip swivel!  Perfect theatrical fare for dark autumn nights!
  
Cooking With Elvis  
Mon. 17th Oct
Tues. 18th Oct
Tickets €15/ €12 or 2 for €25
Bookings: 021 4505624
 
 
***************Strictly  over 18s only***************