Food as art
I really like looking at, and thinking about, food that's self-consciously designed as art. Unlike modern sculpture and poetry, which I appreciate but fundamentally don't really understand, I get food. I can look at a dish and imagine the sort of work that goes into it. I can catch some of the references. Knowing how to cook at a very basic level makes it easier for me to be awed by the technique and conceptual innovation of real masters. And this slideshow that Life magazine had Alinea's Grant Achatz edit is just breathtaking. I could just keep cycling through it all day.
By
Ezra Klein
|
September 15, 2010; 4:32 PM ET
Categories:
Food
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Speaking of modern art (and associated incomprehension), this (there was a link to it at the Life page) is a sure fire lunch break. Essential information, and fun!
http://www.boingboing.net/2010/09/15/how-to-give-an-oposs.html
Posted by: bdballard | September 15, 2010 5:59 PM | Report abuse
Could you bring yourself to actually eat any of those dishes?
Posted by: bgmma50 | September 15, 2010 9:50 PM | Report abuse
"Like many of his colleagues, Blumenthal avoids the name molecular gastronomy, calling it elitist-sounding."
If these chefs really, truly have a problem with seeming elitist, maybe they should stop making $500 edible art and start making $5 frozen dinners.
Posted by: tomveiltomveil | September 16, 2010 9:45 AM | Report abuse
Very expensive taste in food is one of the characteristics of members of the administration, and the bloggers who love them. Alinea seems to be the epicenter of all this. Ezekiel Emanuel has rhapsodized about the wonders of its 300 dollar a plate meals, while he and his brother are calling on average Americans to sacrifice and, in their odious phrase, "have skin in the game." It would take Tom Wolfe to do justice to the combination of exquisite self indulgence on the one hand, and stern demand for others to scale down their lifestyles and consume less, on the other, that we find in Klein and his masters.
Posted by: truck1 | September 17, 2010 10:34 AM | Report abuse
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