Food for thought, as they say. Last October we spent a month in SW France, eating & drinking extremely well, three Michelin starred restaurants included. The best restaurant (Michelin starred) had the simplest food however it was beautifully executed. The staff were excellent too. The second best had no ratings from anyone. It was a one man band, 15 seater, no menu, no prices, amazing but reasonably priced natural wine and the food was simple, very fresh ingredients but executed magnificently. The other two Michelin starred restaurants were over decorated, over priced, over complicated and (I can't even remember what we ate) food by tweezer. I love the way you decide what to do with your raw material and don't approach it with a pre determined recipe in mind. It's pretty much what we do as winemakers. Before we pick the grapes we have no plans for them but as we progress through picking we start to get a good idea of what the grapes want done to them show their full potential in the bottle.
I love to hear that. I’ve journeyed around France many times, often disappointed, though once stumbled across a little one man show in a tiny village in Burgundy, ‘Mont St Jean’ I think, where I had the most simple but lavish lunch in a room filled with local labourers, old ladies and everyone in between.
Cookery for me is lots of little things done well, which I’ve heard somewhere before but can’t quite place it----MARCO PIERRE, and I love it! So much beauty in here. Thank you
Absolutely! "Serve your food hot, serve it quick, keep it simple, and let Mother Nature to be the true artist, allow her to do the work, you are just the cook!" Love him. But you say it just as well in your own words may I add..
Great to read your thoughts about simplicity, Will. The greatest experts I know overwhelmed themselves with complexity during their training so they know all the details and options. Then in later career they are able to pare things back to the essentials and know just when to stop. As da Vinci said, simplicity is the ultimate sophistication!
A pleasure as ever, thank you ill. I love that quote - it chimes with a short interview I saw what the heck Brian Eno saying how that's his experience of music, that whoever he's working with usually finds the reason, the spark in the doing and that while you look back and think it was all about 'x' at the beginning it wasn't clear
Will you are such a treasure to this world. As I read this piece there was so much internal nodding and thinking, Yes, yes yes, we need more of this approach to food. The combination of your professional skill and your finessed sensibility has always inspired me, and I learn something new in every post.
I’m with you on cooking in plastic, who ever thought that was a good idea.
I thoroughly enjoyed this read, William, and agree wholeheartedly in regard to simplicity…and also the satisfaction of making condiments/supplements from garden/wild offerings. I have a miniscule supply of gold dust that I made from the skins of tiny drought-affected mandarins my neighbour gave me. It’s delicious whether included in sweet things or dusted onto fish. It is also unique as the elements will never quite conspire in the same way again, though I have no doubt I’ll be trying to make something similar again next season.
As to cooking sous vide, that’s about as attractive to me as knotting food into condoms for a simmer.
Well, I'm pleased that my question stirred your alchemical pot, Will, and thank you for opening the door and granting my curiosity a peak. I'll read the whole thing in the morning, but right now Neil Young is live at Glastonbury on the BBC...another fine artist at work.
The tuna looks amazing. Yum.
Thank you. Rubbed with horseradish, citrus and herbs.
Food for thought, as they say. Last October we spent a month in SW France, eating & drinking extremely well, three Michelin starred restaurants included. The best restaurant (Michelin starred) had the simplest food however it was beautifully executed. The staff were excellent too. The second best had no ratings from anyone. It was a one man band, 15 seater, no menu, no prices, amazing but reasonably priced natural wine and the food was simple, very fresh ingredients but executed magnificently. The other two Michelin starred restaurants were over decorated, over priced, over complicated and (I can't even remember what we ate) food by tweezer. I love the way you decide what to do with your raw material and don't approach it with a pre determined recipe in mind. It's pretty much what we do as winemakers. Before we pick the grapes we have no plans for them but as we progress through picking we start to get a good idea of what the grapes want done to them show their full potential in the bottle.
I love to hear that. I’ve journeyed around France many times, often disappointed, though once stumbled across a little one man show in a tiny village in Burgundy, ‘Mont St Jean’ I think, where I had the most simple but lavish lunch in a room filled with local labourers, old ladies and everyone in between.
Cookery for me is lots of little things done well, which I’ve heard somewhere before but can’t quite place it----MARCO PIERRE, and I love it! So much beauty in here. Thank you
The man’s a bloody legend. I knew I’d seen it somewhere.
Absolutely! "Serve your food hot, serve it quick, keep it simple, and let Mother Nature to be the true artist, allow her to do the work, you are just the cook!" Love him. But you say it just as well in your own words may I add..
Ah, so you removed the choke after cooking the artichoke in the pot!!! Gosh I feel dumb not knowing such an obvious method.
Great to read your thoughts about simplicity, Will. The greatest experts I know overwhelmed themselves with complexity during their training so they know all the details and options. Then in later career they are able to pare things back to the essentials and know just when to stop. As da Vinci said, simplicity is the ultimate sophistication!
Escoffier said the same .
Faites simples.
Really enjoy your writing and the posts on IG.
Started my career in mid 1970’s with a brilliant City & Guilds course at Henley College Coventry.
Still took a couple of decades for me to truly appreciate the excellent grounding I was given.
A pleasure as ever, thank you ill. I love that quote - it chimes with a short interview I saw what the heck Brian Eno saying how that's his experience of music, that whoever he's working with usually finds the reason, the spark in the doing and that while you look back and think it was all about 'x' at the beginning it wasn't clear
Will you are such a treasure to this world. As I read this piece there was so much internal nodding and thinking, Yes, yes yes, we need more of this approach to food. The combination of your professional skill and your finessed sensibility has always inspired me, and I learn something new in every post.
I’m with you on cooking in plastic, who ever thought that was a good idea.
I thoroughly enjoyed this read, William, and agree wholeheartedly in regard to simplicity…and also the satisfaction of making condiments/supplements from garden/wild offerings. I have a miniscule supply of gold dust that I made from the skins of tiny drought-affected mandarins my neighbour gave me. It’s delicious whether included in sweet things or dusted onto fish. It is also unique as the elements will never quite conspire in the same way again, though I have no doubt I’ll be trying to make something similar again next season.
As to cooking sous vide, that’s about as attractive to me as knotting food into condoms for a simmer.
Well, I'm pleased that my question stirred your alchemical pot, Will, and thank you for opening the door and granting my curiosity a peak. I'll read the whole thing in the morning, but right now Neil Young is live at Glastonbury on the BBC...another fine artist at work.