STUDIOKITCHEN

From Idea To Execution.

Ideas are sparked by many things, logic, whimsy, inspiration, precociousness, brilliance but no matter how profoundly smart or foolish the original inspiration is, it all hinges on execution.
I love luxury, not luxury in a pointless gratuitous ego driven sense but luxury in the sense of refinement that creates transcedental experiences. In car terms a Bentley for example would be the former, however staying within the same country moving to Gaydon, you will find the latter.
In Japanese food terms, while the new money loves their Kobe hotdogs, cheesesteaks and sliders, they should pay more attention to the wonders of Sea Urchin.
I was tempted to add a wikipedia link for Sea Urchin but that's ok, those who dont know simply allow us who do to eat more Uni.

Here is some Uni (in the black).

I  once made an Uni Panna Cotta years ago but never revisited.
The components are simply milk, eggs, uni and reduced mirin.
Just as good as it always was.

Sea Urchin Panna Cotta
Blis Maple Vinegar
Pane Pugliese (My favourite bread bread in NYC)

Simpler than the almond -caviar version but no less delicious.

Collaboration-Behind The Scenes.

The Monthly Creative Exchange Dinner Series.

Collaborations and expanded intellectual exchanges serve all those involved well.
The point is not for us to agree but to open our minds to new ideas and possibilities.
New ideas and possibilities certainly exist in the world of food and cookery but the profound importance of cross-disciplinary exchanges have not been exchanged enough.
The least we expect is to all leave the table with renewed interest in what we do and perhaps a different perspective of how much respect we have for what others do.

Food and a Dinner Party is the perfect  catalyst.
The conversation has already started, you could be a part of it.

I (shola) in conjunction with Alex Talbot and Aki Kamozawa of Ideasinfood have decided to do a monthly dinner/discusssion series. Certainly food is the highlight but flavor perception leads into technique which leads into process.

Food-Flavor-Process-Technique-Form.

Each Dinner will be for exactly 10 people only.
Date for dinner #1 May 1st 2009.
Cost Is $125 per person.
5 courses plus little things every now and then.

Its best that you have no (zero) diet restrictions.

These events will be held in the Philadelphia area.

Other details including location will be sent directly to interested attendees by e mail.

Contact me for more info.

SK BLOG Volume 2.

The last few weeks have been hectic, negotiations, political volunteering, a complete structural disassembly of the old ways of cooking, thinking and finding a new voice.
Everything had to change including myself, now it is time to move to stage next and let ideas flow once again. I have always been fascinated with the idea of using modern technology to reduce the footprint of the commercial kitchen.

In the next few weeks, that theory will be put to the test.
Whatever cannot be cooked with 6 induction burners, CVap Oven, regular convection oven, convection steamer, Teppanyaki (Plancha), Infra-Red Salamander, Merrychef Oven, Thermomix and 5 Immersion circulators will not be cooked and i intend to cook everything.

The goal is to come up with the best 600 square foot commercial kitchen for the S-Works Project.

Once I figure out what works, then I will probably have the DIVA build me exactly what I need.
That is all I will say about that for now.

In the interim, I return to blogging, catering and will shortly announce a series of cooking classes. Thanks for the compliments on e-gullet.

Sake Tasting

I have slowly been educating myself on the wonders of serious Sake, unfortunately most stores that sell Sake carry garbage unless you find a Sake specific store.

One such good place is Sakaya on the East Side of town.
Their website is HERE.

If you want to develop a serious interest, do pay them a visit, very nice people too.

Hamachi Hara

 

Playing with the idea of a plate cooked Hamachi Belly. Hamachi Hara is incredibly lucious almost at the luxury inetensity of O-Toro and Chu-Toro. Belly Scraps have been diced, bound with activa, vacuum packed and pounded out. Plate cooking will require a sturdy porcelain plate. On to the next step.

HYDROCOLLOID CLASSES

Our dear friends Alex and Aki over at IDEASINFOOD  will be teaching a class on Hydrocolloids in Philadelphia.
Date is undetermined but will be earlier in the week such as a monday or tuesday night.
You will do well to be flexible as some of the preparations will be.....haha !
In any case, it will be open to 8-10  people at a time.

Interested parties can e-mail me.

Ciao.