I think the advent of modern travel and technology has givin us the oppurtunity too traval and study others cultures and cuisines. What is wrong with that? Nothing.
It is important to us to understand that because our sweet potatoes taste different it is because they are produced in our soil.
Citrus taste different from every country that grows it, figs from California will not taste the same as figs from Greece or Italy. However, this is not to say they are “bad” only they are different. This is part and parcel of what makes the whole idea of cross-cultural expereances so fasinating.
We have an incredible abundence of cuisines in America, no dought because of all the settlements of people from around the world. These availible resourses to chefs are very exciting and help us develop even more refined and diversified palates.
Don’t forget about Eliza Leslie and Lydia Maria Childs who gave us two of Americas most inflential cookbooks in 1820, or Amilia Simmens early works. And of course Irma Rombourer.
What about the chefs that have worked so hard to research and develop what we now call American cuisine
Patrick Clark
Dean Fearing
Larry Forgione
Mark Miller
Bradly Ogden
Charles Palmer
Johnathan Sundstom
Craig Stoll
Frank Ruta
E. Michael Reidt
Will Packard
Anita Lo
Randy Lewis
Sandra Gambo
Wylie Dufrense
Kelly Courtney.
Although some of these chefs did work and study abroad, their claim to fame (so to speak) is their American food. In addition, what of the farmers and how they work with chefs.
I think the connection between the farmers and the chefs has developed into a very positive and hopefully growth drivin partership.
The greatest part of being an American chef in these times is that we have the good fortune of having almost every type of ingredient availible to us. I think the most important thing to regonize for chefs is to respect our ingredients, understand them, and produce the highest level of cuisine we can with them.
Whether it is a pommalo from tywan or a grapefruit from Florida.
__________________
Baruch ben Rueven / Chanaבראד, ילד של ריימונד והאלאן |