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The Emperor's New Clothes

1K views 6 replies 7 participants last post by  cookingangry 
#1 ·
I have often wanted to pose this question to my peers, and with the economic times we're headed into, this may be the time. To me, it seems there has been a trend where we, as chefs, have fostered a culture where we are dictating what is good, and what is not. For instance, we have long sneered at the poor guy who just plain can't stand the sight of blood and so orders a well done steak, which he has every right to do. Some people refuse to even cook his food how he wants it. Who are we to decide what's good? Or have we been brain washed? I have read award winnng recipes for combinations of ingredients that I cannot imagine being good together. So maybe they really are great, or maybe the jaded critics looking for something new and different just don't have the cajones to say "this sucks" because they're afraid their competition will come in and rave about the same dish. I have long been sneered at by my peers because I don't like foie gras. Sorry, I don't like liver in any way, shape or form and I don't care where it comes from or how much it costs or what you call it. It's liver, and I don't like it. One example that comes to mind is sea salt. Unless I'm canning or curing something, I don't pay attention to what kind of salt I'm using. I am sure there will be many people who will jump to the defense of the superiority of sea salt for flavor and I won't deny that it may have superior properties. However, unless you are using it to coat a pretzel or in some other application where the focus is on salt, does it really matter? In a regular recipe, my opinion is if it makes that much difference, you must be using too much. I also think angus beef is over rated. It's not the best beef I ever ate, so I don't get the hype. the dining public thinks it's the greatest thing since sliced bread. But why? Is it really better, or is it brilliant marketing? I'm inclined to believe it's the marketing. So what I guess I want to kmow is do things like sea salt (and there are many more examples) really matter that much, or do we tout these things because we're afraid to look dumb in front of our peers for pointing out that the Emperor has no clothes?
 
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#2 ·
You are very correct about this issue. It is all about the marketing and not necessarily for the reasons one would think. The reason for the branding/marketing of Angus beef is actually about packaging the product after slaughter and initial cutting. In other words the goal is to consistently get the same cuts from different animals to fit in a given box size and be within a desired weight range.

The problem the beef industry ran into was the wide variety of cattle breeds and farmers preferences to those breeds. When the industry couldn't break down those loyalties by dealing directly with the farmer they took another tack and decided to use the consumer to force the farmer to abandon his preferred breed and raise angus or get out of the business. Advertising targeted the retail customer first and then the food service segment was targeted with the help of the retail customer which means the food purveyors needed to get their hands on angus to make the chef happy so the customer would be happy. This created a shortage of angus which means the angus brought more money at the stock auctions and this caused many farmers to switch to the angus breed. The goal is to standardize cattle in the same manor as the hog and the chicken were standardized. I have eaten angus and its nothing to write home about IMO. I would dare say that 90+ % of consumers wouldn't be able to tell the difference between angus, hereford or limousin in a blind taste test, if all the animals were raised the same. After all its just beef.
 
#5 ·
I think the point as some merit, a good example for me would be pea puree, it seems to apear on so many menus and is quite obviosly made from frozen peas, if it was not fashionable critics would mark you down for using a frozen product. Although some sea salt is like crushed glass and adds nothing to a dish, there is of course fleur de sel from the Camargue in France, if you have not tried it then I suggest you do, you may be suprised by how good it is. Personaly I love fois gras but I would not give you 10 cents for caviar. It seems to me its about being in the right place at the right time, a good example is Gordon Ramsey he is worth millions and if he said horse manure was good in a crumble, I dare say some one would try it. Yet he is famous because he lost it on the pass and swore at his sous chef, now its his trademark and even has a show in the UK called the f word. Personaly I would rather be famous because I was a great chef, not because I have no man managment skills and a foul temper.One of the pleasures of living in France is how much knowledge the French have of food and ingrediants, unfortunatly this is not the same the world over so there will always be those that believe the hype.
Steve masterchefinfrance
 
#6 ·
fashion...As in the clothing market, has just the same effect in catering. there are so many factors to consider and all it takes is someone to tell you snail porrige is fabluous and suddenly the fat duck is the place to eat. Dont get me wrong. Heston Bluminthal is an inspired innovator. But he's high fashion right now

I truly think the way we're taught, dictates our attitude towards what we think the customers want. Also we love to show off (our egos are enormous) and we think we know how the punters want to be enlightened.
So we get snobby about sea salt and foi gras and truffles and the media hypes anyone who does the snob thing with charisma and suddenly we have a new craze

To end my rant... well sourced ingredients, cooked with passion and good basic stocks will always win through

Food snobbery is nothing more than a passing fashion
 
#7 ·
+1 on the fleur de sel. We used it at my place on an heirloom tomatoe salad. Come to think of it... that salad is a classic example of superior ingredients used effectively. We refused to use the stock gen. engineered tomatoes that 99% of America uses. We added a touch of aged balsamic, another ingredient with a clear and respectable hiarchy of quality and came out with a salad that outshined our entres.
 
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