Hi, everyone. Welcome to Pot Luck Food Talks,
the show where we talk about food and kitchens
from a cook's point of view. We're recording
today live from the Millennium Falcon. My name
is Obi -Wan Kenobi, and I'm here with my friend
Chewbacca. And we're going to talk about the
future of restaurants and food scenes and movements.
But first, you're listening to Heritage Radio
Network. You know, I wanted to talk today about
Modernist Cuisine. Do you think Modernist Cuisine
is a book that has aged well or has the culinary
world evolved in ways that make one's groundbreaking
ideas or meanings outdated? I'm curious from
your perspective if it still stands as a foundational
text or... I don't know if newer techniques or
even more so philosophies have overtaken its
relevance. It's a good question. I mean, modernist
cuisine was like, I remember when it came out,
everybody was so excited about it. There was
this big ass compendium of books. It was super
expensive also. I don't even remember how much
it was, but it was quite expensive. 500 euros,
I remember. Five or 600, something like that.
And I remember like going through it and, you
know, like we were already sort of like past
the whole like molecular kind of movement hype
and the whole like scientific approach. I mean,
like in that sort of way. But still, I feel like
with El Bouyi and the movement that came from
there, it kind of opened the doors for chefs
to think about more on a molecular level, like
what is happening. in what they're doing in the
processes and i feel like modernist cuisine was
a really cool piece of work published after that
that broke down a lot of things and it's a i
think still i haven't looked at it in many many
many years i remember i got a copy of it a copy
of like the compendium of books back when it
came out it was like a big thing yeah i remember
you left that copy at my house when you traveled
like for two years to asia and i don't know where
else I'm glad you didn't sell it like you did
with my other shit. By the way, Adriano, if you're
listening to this, I'm going to sell your fucking
ice machine if you don't bring it home at some
point. Okay, sorry. We can go on. I'm looking
to buy an ice cream machine, actually. Yeah?
Okay, we can talk after the show. Yeah, and I
remember reading it and going through it. And
you read it like a textbook, you know, and you're
kind of like, oh, interesting. I never thought
about this. I never thought about that. You know,
I think it's like, I think it's an amazing book.
Look, I'm not a very scientific chef. I like
cooking by feeling. I like also like knowing
and understanding what's going on, but it's definitely
not at the forefront of how I work. You know,
other chefs, they have a much bigger focus on
that, right? Enzymatic reactions and this and
that, you know, the sort of like. Well, I don't
know, you know, restaurants like Alchemist and
stuff like that, you know, there's a lot more
technical knowledge. Whereas if you look at,
for example, a kitchen like La Pêche in Paris
with Alain Passat, you know, there's none of
that. It's just pure, pure cooking, pure feeling,
pure craft. I have like a slight disagreement
because I think it's just different approaches
on technique. But I won't say that La Paese is
not technical. You know, it's like saying...
Oh, no, no, no. It's like saying, like, I don't
know, like a jazz freestyler, he's not technical
because he's freestyling and he doesn't even
know how to read music notes. I mean, but at
the end of the day, he's doing dope music and
he knows what he's doing. But I think there are
these differences of maybe more sophisticated
techniques, maybe techniques that involve formulation
and understanding of reactions, while the other
is more like a gut kind of cooking, right? No,
absolutely. I totally agree with you. I wasn't
trying to say that one is technical and the other
is not. One thing that you said is interesting
is sophisticated, because I don't think that...
one is more sophisticated than the other you
know this is like if you take your example of
music you know um a very like classically trained
orchestra musician is this person more sophisticated
than somebody who does not know how to read music
at all and it's just but it's just playing intrinsically
or a drummer that is just you know you know like
how many so many drummers you know that if you
put a sheet of drum music in front of them they're
like what is this you know but they can drum
just because they kind of feel it. I don't think
one is more sophisticated than the other, but
you're totally right. I don't think that one
is better than the other at all. It's just a
different approach. What I was trying to say
is that I'm from one approach, but I can still
very much appreciate modernist cuisine as what
it is, because it's super interesting. And I
think it's impossible that as a chef who's interested
in the craft, regardless of what you're interested
in, that if you read it, it's going to give something
to you. 100%. You're going to take something
away from it. 100%. I agree. I agree. Phil, do
you recommend podcasts to your friends? All the
time. The best way of showing friends that you
care is recommending a great podcast to listen
to. I agree. If you're listening right now, you
should show your love by recommending a show
to all your best friends. It will make them happy.
It will make us happy. PopLock Food Talks. Tell
your friends. It will make the world a better
place. You know, it came to my mind. I don't
know if you ever saw the, it was from the American
version of Iron Chef. There was an episode with
Homaru Kanto. You know Homaru Kanto? He was the
chef of a place called Moto that was ultra molecular.
And I think he killed himself. I think he hanged
himself in the kitchen, actually. Damn. Yeah.
That Iron Chef episode for me was really interesting
because he really embodied this whole. molecular
cuisine approach where, where kitchens became
like, maybe looking like a lab, you know, like,
and there were different, I would say like, like,
restaurant scenes with that approach. Notably,
of course, Catalonia with El Bulli movement and
all of that, but then also the Fat Dog in England,
which was the seed. for modernist cuisine, because
the chefs that wrote the book were from the Fat
Dog. And then we also have Chicago, of course,
where Moto was from, where this restaurant was
located. And this Iron Chef episode, it was really
striking, the difference between the two styles,
because this was a clash of these two styles.
I don't even remember the other chef, but I remember
that Homaru Kanto was notably different. He was
actually like, you know, with... tubes that you
find in labs. And it was completely boring because
what you want to see in an Iron Chef episode
is actually someone, you know, like flambeing,
burning stuff, and churning ice a la minute.
Well, he was just doing very technical stuff.
That's what I mean with technical. I'm not saying
the other one is not technical, but this is more
like I formulate something and then I just play
two buttons and something really interesting
comes. comes out with maybe an easy execution,
but like a very sophisticated formulation and
planning, right? And then this makes it maybe
for someone less skilled or more intellectual
into this kind of formulations and reactions
and stuff to create also something interesting
and surprising. And he won. He won. And for me,
it was interesting that he won. Because everything
looks so boring, right? Well, in Irish, you see
all this acrobatics of chefs cooking and so.
Like, these are these kind of things. I don't
know if technique is the right word, but maybe
like, yeah, like a different approach, a different
methodology to cooking. Yeah, absolutely. And
I mean, that is the cool, like one of the cool
aspects of cooking. You know, there's so many
different approaches. Have you ever watched the
anime show Food Wars? No, no, no, no. It's such
a cool representation of like different styles
of cooking coming together and the sort of like
advantages that maybe one style has, you know,
where it's kind of like, you know, just like
to really exaggerate, you know, you'll have like
a stir fry chef going up against like a super
minimalist, modern, molecular chef, you know,
and they'll have to like have like a cook -off
in like an arena. And it showcases really beautifully
these moments that are like very intangible in
cooking you know this this is the thing and this
is also something that's always really fascinated
me there's so much in cooking and in eating and
in experiencing the depth of what cooking can
be that's so intrinsical that you can almost
not explain it in words Like when you've had
an experience of going to, I remember, for example,
I mean, not to like talk about Asia all the time,
you know, I remember going to Navarra and going
to this place, Casino, where this old woman was
making tortillas and you eat the tortilla and
you're like, what is happening? Why is this?
This is incredible, right? This is so good. Or
you go to a really amazing ramen place in Japan.
And you take the first sip of the broth and it
just like flushes through you. And if you look
at that from the outside and you see somebody
sipping soup and it's very hard to explain the
sort of like emotional reaction that that can
cause in you. But it's very cool because this
show does showcase that, these like little magical
moments. Cooking is very, very special. It's
a very special craft because you have all these
things that play into it that are very intangible
and that you almost have to experience to understand
them, right? And we have such a varied tool set
at our hands. It's very natural that some people
go into one way, some people go into another
way. You know, somebody will find what really
excites them and they will try to go as deep
as they can into that. you know, and then somebody
else will find something different, you know,
somebody will, you know, like a pastry chef will
get really into the super scientifically, chirurgically
precise kind of like technique and have it all
super exact, play with textures, play with this,
play with that, play with the visual aspect.
And somebody else might say, I don't care about
the visual aspect. I care about the impact, you
know, I care and everything else I don't care
about. And that's why it's like compared to other
crafts, it's very, very difficult to compare
cooking because there's so much that plays into
it that it's just not tangible. I think the word
I was looking for is technological. I think one
approach is more technological than the other.
Right? Because, I mean, one of these super molecular
chefs, he can't do nothing without many tools,
right? Like at least a sous vide cooker, a thermometer,
some whatever, right? Like a vacuum machine and
some other stuff. While the other chef just needs
a knife and a pot and can do magic with just
that. For me, a very good example that comes
to my mind right now, for example, are turning
artichokes, right? That's something that requires
skill. You need to have at least some basic pairing
skills, right? Like to pair the artichoke, and
also you need to understand the oxidation and
the bath you're putting in, and keep them underwater,
and there are a few things. These are many steps
and many things you need to control to do that,
and that's technical. But something that blew
my mind was my friend John Basterrechea. He came
once and he told me like, look at this. And he
vacuumed the artichokes with just salt and olive
oil and he steamed them and he paired them after
steamed. And the things were perfect. And you
skipped like 10 steps, right? Like something
that would take like an hour to do, it would
take him like 15 minutes because it was way easier
to pair. And this is what I say, understanding
these techniques and also at the end of the day,
As a chef, you should always strive or aim at
a specific desired result. And in this case is
cooked artichokes, right? Like there are different
ways to get that. And sometimes technology like
a steamer or in this case, a vacuum machine,
you need it because you could also cook it like
in water or whatever. But yeah, like specific
timing, specific steaming temperature, and you
have like a super nice result, right? And I think
these are the advantages of these technological
tools. Where do you think that restaurant scenes
are moving forward to nowadays? Like, are they
becoming more technical, more discourse -driven,
or what's your thought on that? That's a good
question. I think we're in one of the most exciting
times. of restaurants i think it's just gotten
exponentially more and more exciting and like
bigger and bigger and i think that it's very
diversified i think that there's people are a
lot more educated when it comes to food they
know a lot more and there's a lot more variety
in like where they can go and not just where
they can go as in restaurants you know but like
also how they cook themselves how they eat you
know where do ingredients come from like what
what is my diet like what what do i want it to
be you know there's so many trends left and right
and up and down and back and forth you know sort
of like and then it's molecular then it's nordic
and then it's like a lot of foraging and then
it's a lot of fermentation and then it's all
like archaic It's a lot of open fire cooking.
And then it's kind of like, let's move away from
the modern food. Let's go back to super traditional
basics. Let's go away from the like aesthetic
driven. I put a herb here, I put a herb there.
And like all these tendencies, they like exist.
But nowadays, I feel like instead of just having
like one or two that are like predominant, we
have a lot more and people have a lot more variety
to choose. Like, for example, here in Dubai.
The restaurant scene is still relatively young.
Four years ago, it was very one -sided. It was
like big places. The food was all very similar.
You had items that you knew that people loved,
right? You know, people like Wagyu. You always
have Wagyu steaks on the menu. You knew that
people like young chickens, baby chickens, right?
So you always have like a roasted baby chicken
boneless on there. I could name you like five,
six, seven, eight restaurants that have almost
identical dishes on the menu because you know
that they're crowd favorites. And it was very
strange to me. Very, very strange. So everywhere
I would go, I'd be sort of like, oh, that's their
version of the baby chicken. That's their version.
I would say you have the same here, like the
Basque style of grilling. I mean, the chuleta
and the grilled fish. You will find this in pretty
much any restaurant or any grill house. All of
them, you know, like. That's true. But obviously,
the Basque country has a lot like a bigger, rich
history of their own food. You know, you have,
of course, restaurants that have Emirati food,
but all these restaurants, they're not traditional
from here. You know, they're a concept that has
been made that's completely something else. But
nowadays, there's a lot more restaurants opening
up that try to break out of that. I think it's
very interesting what you just said, because
probably the reason is, I don't know anything
about Emirati, but I guess like many of these
Arab tribes, their diets were like a very...
desert surviving kind of diet. Like, I don't
know, maybe it's a similar problem to what happened
in the Nordic countries before the Nordic movement,
that their traditions were potatoes and sausages
for, in this case, for religious reasons, but
in the other case can be like for survival reasons.
I don't know. It would be interesting to check
on that. Yeah, definitely. But also, you know,
the Dubai market is, you know, just to a very
small amount made up of locals. I mean, I would
say like maximum 50%, right? And the other 50
% are expats, if not more, I think, in your general
populace of like your customer base. You know,
like now you have a lot more restaurants that
are breaking out of that. But that is also only
possible because bit by bit. people have become
more educated about food so all these restaurants
that did a very specific style and they're all
always kind of like we do this this this this
this because we know people like it and then
little by little the other day we talked about
gently educating customers you know and little
by little things get introduced a little bit
here a little bit there like for example here
in the arab world people don't necessarily like
eating raw food meat is always cooked medium
well to well done No blood. It's, you know, for
religious reasons. And they don't eat raw food.
So beef tataki, no way. Sashimi, no way, you
know. So, but little by little, you kind of teach
them. You show them, you know. For religious
reasons, obviously, you know, hey, nothing to
teach, nothing to show, right? That's your choice.
But if it's just something learned and you're
kind of like, well, I'm not really used to it.
I feel like maybe it's kind of gross and you're
sort of like, well, give it a try. Maybe I'll
put it in a way, maybe instead of cooking the
salmon, I'll torch it. It's half raw. And then
you eat it and you're like, this is very nice,
you know, and then kind of you build up to it.
And nowadays we have so many restaurants emerging
that are breaking out of this and that are more
restaurants that I like to go to. Small places
that are not focused on a big vibe, party, luxury,
whatever, you know, like you have to have a DJ,
whatever. But they're just about go. It's really
good food. It's really good drinks. It's good
service. It's a nice atmosphere. And like, that's
it. But yeah, like I said, it's only possible
because you had years of kind of building up
to that. If people would have come here five,
six, 10 years ago, and they would have said,
I'm going to open a small Mexican place with
just like mariscos and tostadas and blood for
like a hundred people, people would have told
you, you're crazy. Like, okay, where are you
going to put the DJ? Where are you going to,
you're not going to have bottle service. Are
you crazy? You're not going to last a year, you
know? So I think to answer your question, kind
of like go sidetracked a little bit, but I think
we're in a super exciting time gastronomically
because there's such a big variety. People know
much more what's going on. People are also not
afraid to kind of stick to what they like. And
it's sort of like, hey, if I want to eat big
steaks and I want them well done, you know, I
know that I can go somewhere where like I can
get that and I can get that at a good price.
In my restaurant, for example, like you can go
and you can have a well done steak. That's not
shit because it's important that... You're kind
of like, well, if you want to eat well -done
sticklets, at least try to make it, let me at
least try to source a meat that makes it not
completely inedible. Dude, recently I had some
guests on a food tour and it really hurt me because
they were like, at some point on the tour, I
explained how the fish is grilled here and some
traditional dishes, how they're cooked and how
the chuleta is cooked. And basically that here,
the chuleta is rare. Like red, you know, like
almost bleeding. And they told me like, and I
explained the whole process because it's not
like something common sense the way it's done.
And there are some reasons. And for me, it's
my favorite way to eat meat. They told me just
the day before they were at Casa Julian, one
of the best steakhouses in the world. And they
didn't like it because their meat was very rare.
And I was heartbroken, you know, because it was
like, dude, like you go to Casa Julian. And they
told me, like, after you explain here the whole
thing, now we understand because everything you
said is exactly how it was. You know, it was
red, but warm and soft and only salt and this
and that. Sometimes eating something without
context or without understanding gives you a
bad experience. Maybe just a little explanation
will help you. to enjoy it, you know, especially
if it's something new and unknown for you. And
I think what you just said is not a process exclusive
to Dubai. I would say in the whole Western world,
like learning how to eat sushi in the last decades,
that was a process, you know, like being afraid
of raw fish and to the point that today sushi
is more trendy than ever. I know this because
I was looking on some trend research tools. And
it went from mid -end to casual restaurants to
now to cheap food that you find everywhere, at
least in the States. So it has become like, it's
more trendy than ever and it's more consumed
than ever in America, which is, you know, today,
2025, which is very interesting, you know? Yeah,
absolutely. It's a learning process. Sometimes
you just have to give things another go. But
like, I also love the fact that things don't
have to change that much. You know, the whole
sort of like, american chinese thing where settlers
come they have to change their food for like
the local taste that's something like while that's
also valid and fine and also important like for
example here i have a friend who just opened
a mexican place and they make all the food less
spicy because they know that if they make it
too spicy all the locals are going to complain
because they don't have a culture of eating very
spicy right yeah but while that's like a necessity
and it's also like not bad because american chinese
food is cool Like the stuff that came out of
it is cool. You know, it's like a different thing.
Is it traditional Chinese? No. Right. But it's
like a new thing. And that's totally cool and
fine as well. And it's super interesting. But
at the same time, I'm super happy that we're
in a time where there's also places that don't
feel like they need to change anything. For example,
in Berlin, there's a place called Labkoi and
they cook Thai food. They're very, very outspoken.
I think they even have like a sign on the door
that says, if you don't like spicy food. Maybe
consider going somewhere else because we're not
going to change the recipes to your liking. We're
going to make them exactly how they are supposed
to be made, but they will be spicy. If you don't
want spicy food, maybe this isn't the place for
you. And I love that. Some people are outraged
by that because they're sort of like, why can't
you make it less spicy for me? I don't like spicy
food. But then again, we're in the same territory
like we were last time. We're kind of like, well.
why do you go to a sushi place and ask for pizza?
Why would you go to a northern Thai place and
ask for things that are not spicy? Not ask for
things that are not spicy, because there are
things on the menu that are less spicy. But if
you ask for the jungle curry that's made a specific
way with specific chilies, specific quantities,
that it says it's very spicy, and you say, hey,
can you make it less spicy? It doesn't work like
that. You can't order the Wagyu steak and tell
me, please make it less fatty. It just doesn't
work. We had a complaint. It was sort of like
I ordered the A5 Japanese Wagyu. I ordered the
A5 Japanese Wagyu and it was too fatty. Ignorance
is very daring, my friend. Hey, Phil, have you
subscribed to our newsletter yet? We have a newsletter?
What's a newsletter about, Eric? Every month
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to our newsletter where we unveil all of Phil's
grandmother's secrets. So this whole conversation
brings me to a question from one of our listeners
that I know you are going to like very much.
He says, how do you not fall into the trap of
gentrifying traditional food? What are your thoughts
on this one? My thoughts on this question are
that I don't understand the question. To me,
it sounds like a nonsense question. The trap.
What's the trap? You know, what is the trap?
What does it mean to... What does it mean to
gentrify a traditional dish? It's such a wide
thing. I do get it. I do get it. At least like
this is my take on that one. I think this is
like what we talk about on the Barcelona episode
where I mentioned that suddenly like a whole
neighborhood becomes populated by expats who
speak English and all the traditional places
are gone. And then some traditions start to become
designed to cater. this audience right like and
the traditional catalan place you won't find
them in those neighborhoods anymore even though
it's in the middle of the capital of catalonia
like i guess this is uh the point i didn't read
it i didn't read it like that at all actually
i the way that i read the question sort of like
if you make a modern version of traditional food
how do you not gentrify that food When you're
taking it out of the traditional framework. That's
also an interesting point because it's a way
you understand traditions, right? Like I think
I was recently talking with John Reggefalk, who
recently returned from a trip to China. And he
tells me that what he saw there, he has really
the feeling that many places where he ate, that
this chef, they do only one thing. And, you know,
like a special whatever, a special soup or a
special, like in this little vending, vending,
no, like this little food vendors, you know,
like, and they do that to perfection. And they
probably learned that from some master that taught
them how to do that. And probably that's the
only thing they know how to do, like very good.
And they're not thinking about changing anything
or innovating or being creative or pushing boundaries
or anything. And that's. 100 % traditional and
who knows how old that tradition is or where
it evolved from, right? I guess it's that versus
doing a paella with Oreo or recently I saw dude
like a savory black ink, like a squid ink cheesecake
with fried calamari on top. You know, like. That's
horrible. Yes. It was like a black cheesecake
with fried calamari on top. And that's like,
yeah, there are many heresies happening on that
one at the same time, you know? Oh my God, that's
horrible. Just to kind of clarify, the meaning
of gentrification, the process whereby the character
of a poor urban area is changed by wealthier
people moving in. improving housing attracting
new businesses often displacing current inhabitants
of the process so i think maybe the word gentrification
is poorly chosen when you're talking about traditional
food because gentrification the term has nothing
to do with you know it has very much to do with
an area and the ecosystem there you know the
urban ecosystem so that's why i kind of read
the question like that what's a fine line to
to walk and it's also something that i don't
think that can be generalized right If I make
a modern version of a German dish, right? Okay,
German, okay, German, maybe bad example. I make
a modern version of a traditional Oaxacan dish
as a Mexican chef. Am I gentrifying this Oaxacan
tradition? Or am I just making something? Am
I just like making something that I feel like
making? Is the line that if I'm not Mexican,
if I'm from, let's say, Chile or Peru? Am I then
gentrifying it by making something that's not
my quotation marks, my own culture? But like,
where do we stop? If I'm Mexican, but I'm not
from Oaxaca, am I then stepping over the line?
Like, where do you draw the line? I feel this
is very, very personal, like impossible to say.
We talked about it previously. I think that if
you're respectful of traditions and appreciative,
you come from a place of appreciation, just do
whatever the fuck you want. Food is an expression.
Just make something that excites you, that you
think is cool. It doesn't matter if the other
people think it's cool. I mean, it does if they're
your customers, maybe a little bit. But man,
just fuck that. This whole conversation brings
me to the thought, like, you were just talking
about Chinese -American, which is its own thing,
and it's different from Chinese from China, or
Japanese from Peru, or even like the false soup
in Vietnam, which was created to cater foreigners
who would prefer beef instead of pork or chicken.
So they started doing like this beef soups for
the French that were living in Vietnam, and today...
So that's already like an example of gentrification
that generated a new tradition. I think like
traditions, especially in food, is something
evolving just like language, you know, like just
like a word becomes trendy and everybody starts
using it or an expression or a slang. I guess
like the same happens with recipes that go from.
from someone to another or a restaurant to another,
and they nourish themselves with influences of,
yeah, like plating trends or cooking technique
trends, but being anchored in the archetype of
the traditional one, but just doing, like, new
twists around it. And I think that's how it works
and how it always has worked, like, since the
beginning of cooking, you know? Absolutely. It's
like, you know, but it's kind of like, well,
if it's recent and if it's happening now, people
seem to kind of, like, rate it differently than
when it happened, like, a hundred years ago,
which is not a long time ago. You know, like,
you say, like, perfect example, you know, of,
like, the beef soup or, like, banh mi, you know?
Banh mi. Baguette. worldwide phenomenon everybody
loves it vietnamese amazing what's in there it's
baguette there's pate in there you know like
and it's like well why do you think that happened
because some french people came in and gentrified
it's like the the area that was like okay cool
there's good science there's good aspects to
it that's actually what happened yeah of course
it's like there's good sides to it there's bad
sides to it but it's just like a part of the
the world you know things are ever changing and
evolving but if a chef nowadays says like hey
i'm gonna make this traditional dish i'm gonna
change it and suddenly people stuff like oh you're
gentrifying the i don't know you know or like
um somebody moves to a new country and says hey
i'm gonna cook my food but i'm gonna use local
ingredients and they're like well are you gentrifying
the tradition it's like no I don't know. I don't
see it like that. And I think food should be
a form of expression. And I think people should
be free to do whatever they want as long as they're
respectful and come from a place of appreciation.
I think people should just chill the fuck out
a little bit more. Yeah. Stay in school, kids,
and don't do drugs. After this fun... Fun, sound
experience. It's time for our beloved segment,
Go Fact Yourself. Go fact yourself. The cooking
myth today is searing meat locks in the juices.
I think this was already solved many years ago
by Heston Blumenthal on his show. I think it
was Gastronomic Lab or Culinary Lab. I don't
remember the name, but that was the first time
I first saw Heston Blumenthal ever. It wasn't
a TV show. I was starting in culinary school
at the moment. And I was like, oh, that guy,
he looks pretty legit. And so I Googled who he
was, and suddenly that year it was best restaurant
in the world, and he had three Michelin stars.
And I was like, what the fuck? I thought it was
just a TV show, you know, like with some chef
doing stuff. Some random geeky, geeky scientist.
Yeah, exactly, like whatever, you know. Suddenly
it was the best chef of the world with three
mission stars. Yeah, he did an experiment on
that. I think he even overseered a piece of meat
with a torch, you know, like he burned it and
then he squeezed both pieces and he measured
the juices coming out and at the end the result
was it's bullshit. All right, before we reveal
the answer, dear listener, now is your time to
give us the response. All right, cue your answer
in three, two, one. All right, if you said that
it's true, then I feel sorry for you. It's definitely
not true. It's been proven by now, scientifically,
that searing meat actually makes it lose more
juices than other cooking methods. You know,
I think by searing meats, it loses about like
six to 10 % of its juice. Brings to question,
which doesn't mean that something seared or searing
something makes it not juicy, right? But what
happens is when we sear something, especially
meats, you know, there's something that's called
the Maya reaction. That's the reason why you
sear it. That's the reason why you sear it. By
browning it, you're generating pure, juicy deliciousness.
Well, not juicy, like more dry, but pure deliciousness.
And that's what you want. Yeah, it's interesting,
actually. My reaction creates a... a literal
reaction between amino acids and sugars and the
surface of whatever you're browning and it makes
certain compounds that were not tasty or had
no taste at all suddenly tasty for us like biologically
and like thousands of compounds that combine
they generate this as distinctive aromas that
you find in for example roasted meat or roasted
whatever And there you go. Just another example
of earlier talking about modernist cuisine that
a little bit of scientific knowledge goes a long
way. Put down the joint, open a book once in
a while, and go fact yourself. Wrong about cooking.
Don't get mad, get factual.