As told by Grant Ripp
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With the demanding pace of life today, cooking for many people has become limited to micro waving a prepackaged meal. Even when assembling and cooking from 'scratch', many people are still relying to some extent on packaged ingredients (vegetables, pasta, etc...). However, from remote history until the present time cooking has been and can continue to be so much more.
Cooking is an art form, and as such has all the components of a well-developed craft. Its formulas begin with the proper ingredients, which are the building blocks of the final result. Among the Chef's canvases, paints and brushes are items like meats, fish and vegetables, fresh from the garden andmarket. These work in concert with a full array of salts, herbs, sugars and spices. Pots, pans, and other utensils that respond with the right sensitively to the heat applied are like so many crucibles in the laboratory of the scientist. Once all the preliminary tools of the trade are in place, the Chef, as the Artist, must have a clear vision of what he or she desires to create. This vision and inspiration, like the ingredients must be fresh. In other words, they must be able to respect and understand preconceived notions of tradition while exhibiting a pioneering innovative spirit.
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For example, Asian cuisine is much more than just stir fry, and Italian fare much more than just tomato and basil. To prepare dishes in a defined style of cuisine you need to be conversant in the particular culinary culture and history of your target category. Synthesizing the already established rules of formulating certain cuisine's with the desire to innovate are the personal flare and spirit of the Chef, whose food creations will, as the artists' paintings or drawings, reflect his/her own individuality, to those sampling the delicacies. The Chef/Artists level of knowledge, training, preparedness, and patience all effect the finished piece. Perhaps the most developed characteristic is the ability to adapt under any conditions or circumstances, preparing the foods at their highest possible potentials, underscored with a well-rounded awareness of everything conceivably required to accomplish the task set forth. In conclusion we see that today's unfortunate trend towards fast/pre-prepared foods needs to be considered art no less than billboard advertising art. With some recognition of the time-honoured craft of artistically blending flavours with the knowledge of the formulas and established norms of the culinary art form, the inspired Chef may be viewed as an artist, utilizing in his cooking, many aspects of those criteria which endow an activity with the name of Art. It is to this lofty level that I perceive the rightful position of preparing cuisine.
Click HERE to see more examples of what I have created.
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