Miles Davis died today several years ago and as I listened to an anthology of his music over the years, I paid closer attention to that phase in his music that generated a lot of negative reaction from the purists. It makes me think about a certain realm of criticism in the world of food writing today. Anyone today can basically be a food writer thanks to the internet and shrinking newspaper budgets. Forget about budgets, newspapers period may be extinct in 5 years or less if the evolution of information dissemination continues at the current pace. While I am not suggesting it is an easy profession, I do find it odd that the current economy and the focus on all things "homey",comforting and nurturing is resulting in a sort of reverse elitism towards anyone or anything that still strives to be innovative.
Every innovator in cookery in this country today and I refer to the Grant Achatzs, the Alex Talbots, the Wylie Dufresnes and the Sean Brocks, every one of these types of people came to the party with a deep history of completely conventional work that they have successfully built on to craft a way forward for themselves. While the work is praised for the most part and is certainly not for everyone's tastes or wallets, there frankly is no reason to disparage what you are predisposed not to like.
People focus on the specifics of modern structural ingredients and use terms like "meat glue" for transglutaminase while they have been eating Mcnuggets since they were 2 years old or drinking their local beers at gastropubs with "truffled fries" laced with copious amounts of synthetic truffle extract. Seriously what is "pretentious food". Gee I wonder what holds the chicken together in chicken nuggets or what gets the batter to stick to the "chicken"
My point is we have to see the forest for the trees and progress cannot be cut off at the knees because in virtually all cases it reeks of hypocrisy.
New Rule #53
See The Forest For The Trees.
Innovation is not static and it filters down.
Someone has to go further for all of us to be better.
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