Sense of Wonder, Joy, Exploration

Posted by Jacqueline Church Aug 16, 2008

The Familiar and the Unexepected

Jose Andres is a fantastic chef and ambassador. With the black eye Spanish Olympians are giving the country, someone there should get out in front of the media and do some positive PR for the country with their culinary leaders. One of the things you see watching Chef Andres in a clip from ABC news. He speaks to how our knowledge of the world expands but our experience of it flattens out. We become unable to experience things the way a child does. Our capacity for joy is not gone, it's just dulled.

Andres is el jefe when it comes to enthusiasm. This comes through in his PBS show. He is focused on reintroducing us to the child-like wonder in the world through food. It's what Chef Gabriel Bremer also does here in Cambridge at Salts, using new techniques to re-introduce us to famliar foods.

My introduction to Ferrán Adrià was quite moving for me. I wrote about it here, catching the attention of Epicurious.com editor, Tanya Steel.

Unexpected

Paella is one of the dishes most commonly identified with Spain. One of the best parts of the dish is "socorat" the crusty rice on the bottom of the paella pan. People covet it. To my surprise, a recent paella in Boston had no socorat! Guests had complained of "burnt" paella so the kitchen stopped serving it done properly. The lesson: ask. Next time I'll give the kitchen the joy of cooking an authentic paella and I'll enjoy my crunchy bits.

To read about my experience at a Spanish newcomer here, Estragon is Serious about Cachondeo.