I really hesitated when I booked this session of Theatre of Ideas. First off, I didn't know what to expect and I'm not sure if I'm going to get my money's worth. After all, it is $160. I chose the session by Bompas and Parr & Elena Arzak because I thought they're different and yes, admittedly, I was curious.
Bompas and Parr were charming. These two jelly mongers from London know their stuff - and it's all wobbly and shmansy. They started off with no culinary experience whatsoever but there's a passion lingering from their respective fields. One majored in Geography and another in Architecture, they talked about how they found out and experimented on how to make the best jelly, to designing their own moulds and to crazy, out of this world projects for various institutions and industries. These guys are the rockstars of the jelly world. One thing that really caught my attention was when they made the orange striped jelly with orange juice and milk. I know this is nothing revolutionary but I think it was really cool. They also gave us a few samples of jellies to taste. The one I tasted was in a shape of a minitiature Shrine of Remembrance and the flavour was, get this, Gin and Tonic. A teaspoon of this baby will set you off with a bang! The second one I tasted was a Champagne with gold leaf Funeral jelly (a tribute to Funeral cakes). It was beautiful and it made me feel rich. =)
The picture below showed the girl sliding through a pool of jelly, just one of their "small" projects.
The striped orange and white jelly that got my attention.
I was sad with Bompas and Parr had to go but I'm excited over Elena Arzak. Emerging from 4 generations of chefs, she simply had to take on the challenge of revolutionizing their restaurant Arzak, in San Sebastian. She talked a bit about the Basque region and how the food is important to its people, then about experimenting with food and having over 400 spices in their spice room. She believes in the code of flavour and adapting to the Basque taste. She started the demo with a simple (or rather not so simple for us anyway!) beetroot cromlech (beetroot juice and tapioca flour, that's fried and puffs up). The picture below.
She explained a lot of things that day but the one below for me was the highlight. Imagine a plate with a view, literally. The screen underneath the plate shows a video of the beach, so you eat off the screen -- Pan fried monkfish, edible shells, jellied starfishes (made from curacao) and seaweed. This is definitely one dish I would love to try.
Just when I thought that there was nothing exciting about food at all, then I came and met these amazing people who are setting the trend on food and how to step up the experience for the people savouring the food. They believe that food does not only nourish, it has to excite the senses as well. If this is the way food is going, I can't wait to be in the future!
Bompas and Parr were charming. These two jelly mongers from London know their stuff - and it's all wobbly and shmansy. They started off with no culinary experience whatsoever but there's a passion lingering from their respective fields. One majored in Geography and another in Architecture, they talked about how they found out and experimented on how to make the best jelly, to designing their own moulds and to crazy, out of this world projects for various institutions and industries. These guys are the rockstars of the jelly world. One thing that really caught my attention was when they made the orange striped jelly with orange juice and milk. I know this is nothing revolutionary but I think it was really cool. They also gave us a few samples of jellies to taste. The one I tasted was in a shape of a minitiature Shrine of Remembrance and the flavour was, get this, Gin and Tonic. A teaspoon of this baby will set you off with a bang! The second one I tasted was a Champagne with gold leaf Funeral jelly (a tribute to Funeral cakes). It was beautiful and it made me feel rich. =)
The picture below showed the girl sliding through a pool of jelly, just one of their "small" projects.
The striped orange and white jelly that got my attention.
I was sad with Bompas and Parr had to go but I'm excited over Elena Arzak. Emerging from 4 generations of chefs, she simply had to take on the challenge of revolutionizing their restaurant Arzak, in San Sebastian. She talked a bit about the Basque region and how the food is important to its people, then about experimenting with food and having over 400 spices in their spice room. She believes in the code of flavour and adapting to the Basque taste. She started the demo with a simple (or rather not so simple for us anyway!) beetroot cromlech (beetroot juice and tapioca flour, that's fried and puffs up). The picture below.The picture above, evolved to the picture below, which is the same tapioca flour, half mixed with squid ink and half with turmeric powder (to explain simply). Underneath it are small squares of foie gras topped with onion relish (among other things) and the plate is sprinkled with 3 types of powder - parsley, linchen/sea urchin and chicken powder (or something made with chicken powder).
She explained a lot of things that day but the one below for me was the highlight. Imagine a plate with a view, literally. The screen underneath the plate shows a video of the beach, so you eat off the screen -- Pan fried monkfish, edible shells, jellied starfishes (made from curacao) and seaweed. This is definitely one dish I would love to try.Just when I thought that there was nothing exciting about food at all, then I came and met these amazing people who are setting the trend on food and how to step up the experience for the people savouring the food. They believe that food does not only nourish, it has to excite the senses as well. If this is the way food is going, I can't wait to be in the future!
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