The Evolution of Food

,KRelax. I don't plan here to bore you about molecular cuisine or a lot of statistics! Maybe my header is misleading. Maybe not.

Fact is, that mainstream trends become more and more extreme. Mainstream isn't the Skandinaviam (Nordic) cuisine of Noma - or molecular cuisine of Alinea (and El Bulli before) - [it is though funny, that the mass food industry is using exactly the same culinary additives than molecular restaurants- and e.g. French Fries from McDonalds could be served in a fine dining restaurant, due to its insane effort, to make achieve the perfect recipe].

What I mean are burgers, pork belly, bacon, ramen (yes the packages), and... vegan.

You might have already realized that these thinks are on an opposite spectrum. The extremes. And hence this is the world we are living in... we are wondering, why people are becoming violent due to their religion, but become ourself violent, if restaurateurs serving foie gras.

Well... I am part of the world- so are you! Hence I am not predicting the next trend (which will be definitely more extreme - maybe something like wagyu-pig bacon?) - no, I am looking for a,food trend, which would make things better!

Look- the issue is, that we are eating too much meat (as well as other animal protein). But the problem is, that vegans won't be able to convince a healthy thinking carnivore to stop eating animal products - this simply won't happen! The issue is, that cuisine and dietary requires compromise: there are several points which are standing kinda in opposite directions and one has to be very lucky (read rich) to be able to make the least compromises. These points are:

• Deliciousness

• Sustainability

• Healthiness

• Affordability

• Ethicality

Look, meat mass production - even fish farming (...) has a big impact into the environment- and really the animal wellbeing is always in jeopardy. Yes, not meat production at all is ethical in question- no, mass production does make the problems.

Well, in fact a problem is also, that even veganism and vegetarism is not necessary perfect for the environment. But I do agree, that animal farming is a big environmental problem!

The issue for me: vegan (and often vegetarian) food taste like a combination of bird-food and cardboard. I was one time so excited about a British "high quality" (at least it was a renowned brand) vega sausage... In fact it tasted like ground cardboard with spices. And I don't know your preferences... but in my vocabulary, cardboard isn't connected to tasty!!!

Organic and sustainable raised animals are another way. The issue is here, that the cost is dramatically higher. And besides, that you have to be definitely wealthy to change to this type of produce, the world simply doesn't have enough organic farms!

The way out of this riddle are responsible chefs, blogger, journalists... Which don't go the easy route of offering something delicious without thinking of the consequences.

Put it how you like it, but every person who is not a vegan (or maybe vegetarian) eats far, far, far (and in my case few more fars) too much meat! 

I like few Italian dishes, which are meatless, and I should eat them far more often: spaghetti aglio e olio, and pasta marinara. Honestly, I would not miss the meat in a mushroom sauce (in fact I just ate a couple of days ago a,stir fried dish in Blue Jade, which was so meaty and so flavorful, and was made entirely from mushrooms!). Pasta with pesto, is another dish, which is delicious without animal product. And Cacio e peppe a dish with pecorino and pepper is just another delicious Italian dish without meat (and no, I can't live without cheese).

These dishes are also relatively easy to produce. I never even attempted to make black pepper tofu, but when I ate it in a restaurant, I thought, that it is a perfect dish- no need for meat!

But more of these dishes would need to be endorsed by celebrity chefs! We should eat 1-2 times a week "proper meat" and the rest of the week, we should eat scraps (chicken gizzards someone?) or something which didn't died for us!

But to go this step, everyone has to promote good tasting food, which just happen to be meatless.

Vegan chefs, bogger and "foodies" (yeah, I am really questioning if there is something such like a vegan foodie) are not an option. They are living the compromise and their tastebuds are compromised! They have a different perspective about food! 

But real chefs and carnivore bloggers, have the tastebuds, which can detect a great dish- with or without meat! Just put the bacon aside (I am not joking- bacon was such a trend that in the US there was a bacon shortage last year, which resulted a national wide price increase!!!) - and become responsible! The Sunday roast can still be an animal... But let us do some delicious meatless weekday dishes!

Dubai is a strange place for restaurants

My header says it all. Since almost 10 years, I still struggle to understand the owners and operators of Dubai's restaurant scene.

Maybe I see it clearer - maybe I am more innovative and inspired - maybe they are just not all of it!

At work, we just opened a beach restaurant featuring grilled seafood and meats and (my part) tiki cocktails. Yes - this is nice... and rather boring. Not the drinks... but the concept.

Now: beach, sand, a grill - my voices in my head are almost so loud, that I am sure, that everyone around me is hearing them! Two things you could do really well - guess - it isn't a grill with Tiki cocktails:

• A Filipino restaurant
• A Jamaican restaurant

How can you not choose this type of concepts???

Ok - you might want to know why?!

Take one: The Filipino restaurant.

1. Everybody likes to have an as authentic as possible restaurant - guess what - we do have a lot of Filipinos here! 
1. We have Filipino bands here, which are inexpensive [compared to e.g. European bands] - and they are really good.
2. We have a lot of Filipino waitresses and waiters here
3. We have a lot of Filipino chefs here.
2. The food is simply delicious!
1. Yes - Filipinos love pork - but there are also a lot of recipes featuring other stuff than pork.
2. The food is simple and delicious.
3. There is no competition around
1. There are pinoy restaurants - but they are more cafeteria style
2. You would need to pimp a bit the presentation and preparation - but this isn't a big challenge I guess.
3. People would just love it.
4. It is easy to design a Filipino restaurant at the beach!

And take two: The Jamaican restaurant.

1. The food is so different and definitely made for a BBQ set up.
2. It is delicous - maybe even more delicious than Filipino food.
3. The music - just think about it and tell me, that you wouldn't come to a place which plays awesome Reggae and offer cool beers, some rum and some blackened jerk chicken!?
4. There is also no competition around - not a bit!
5. And yes - it is also quite straight forward to design a restaurant around Jamaica culture.

So instead of copying the 101st South American steak house or the 301st Japanese restaurant, somebody could do something unique!

Just saying...

Jake's Food Truck review

Long time I didn't posted here anything. It is quite convenient to post reviews directly on Zomato - and I haven't usually a lot of time to post on two separate spaces.

Anyways - I guess Jake's Food Truck isn't yet long enough operational - that is why it isn't on Zomato - and that further means, I post my review here, yey!

Recently, I tasted the small burgers at SALT - and while they were not the best in Dubai - at least they were quite good - very good, indeed. When I read about Jake's I was quite excited. Maybe something more unique? The "unnamed spokesperson" which was interviewed by the Guardian, lifted my anticipation further in lofty heights: they intended to serve "gourmet food" in a more casual way - on the street. That's sounds like a promise...

We found Jake's food truck on the Jumeirah beach - close to the Jumeirah Beach hotel. Ordering was quite painless... the menu is short [burgers - 3 different ways] - drinks, we bought before at a petrol station [I fancy Coke more than Pepsi].

So it was the Heat and the Original Burger... we ordered - and we forgot the fries - these we ordered a bit later.
Order process was painless and much more personal. No electronic hockey puck as SALT. I ordered the burger medium but 'Chef' [yes, there was a probably French chef in the truck - probably the co-owner] that Dubai law doesn't allow medium burgers - but that the burger will be juicy enough.
When are chefs finally bring sous vide burger to Dubai, which are pasteurized due to a sufficient time in the heat???
Cooking time - again - ring, ring 2:0 - for Jake's. We hardly waited 5 minutes for our burgers.
Ambiance? Truth has to be told - the Kite Surf Beach is gorgeous, and cannot be beaten by the Jumeirah beach. It is nice - but not as trendy as the Kite...

We received our burger in a half carton box - while it was printed, it was much less paper/cardboard... I would prefer the more environmentally beneficial recycling paper of SALT, but sparely used like at Jake's. Anyway - it did its job to hold the burgers well enough.

The burgers themselves? Meh. First - I guess, they mixed up the burgers - I got blue cheese on mine and both had no heat. The burger we didn't ordered sported blue cheese - hence I guess, that they made a mistake. The bagel was small and tough. Not homemade - not even a great commercial bagel.
The burger patty was also quite tough - I guess overworked - not loose enough, not juicy [and fatty] enough. Fries were soft and unimpressive.

For God sake(!!!) why are they bringing food trucks to Dubai and don't get it right???

Ok - a food truck is a truck which serves food. But the contemporary idea is, that these are "establishments" which serve a very focus selection of food, very personal and very good. Jake's doesn't do this.

The burgers look like a room service product of a trendy 4 Star hotel, which wants to be different [that's why bagels instead of burger roll]. It is overpromising and underdelivering and I hate that!
To be honest - I hate to hate Jake's as well as I hate to dislike SALT!

Is it worth a detour if you are in the neighborhood? At a "naked" price of 35 dhs per smallish burger [bigger than SALTs - but there you get two burgers, which is considerably a better deal] - I would prefer to go to a near Johnny Rockets!

So - given, that Jake's supposed to be the first food truck, which is freely roaming Dubai, I am anxious waiting for better iteration of the food truck concept. At this point, brick and mortar restaurants in Dubai offering better food - which isn't necessary more expensive or less personal!

Sometimes perfection is what you are not after...

I am a flaming fan/defender/promoter of Sous Vide. I believe a lot of things, simply cannot be cooked "properly" with traditional cooking methods. Doesn't matter if it is short cooked or long cooked.

See - a tenderloin for example - you could cook it a bit too rare - so it won't become overcooked and dry - but then it taste a bit metal'y and it is just too bloody - or you cook it medium, when the edges are a bit too well done, and it is overall a bit dry.

Long cooked cuts have even more problems - of course you could braise something, until its integrity loosens up - but it is so awesome to have e.g. shortribs which are meltingly tender but are still pink and juicy.
Anyway, the meat will end up much more tender, when you are cooking it sous vide.

Chicken - personally it is a big flavor "thing" for me. Sous vide will make the chicken taste like chicken on steroids (on the second look, this "picture" doesn't sound very appealing to me...). And the chicken is as juicy as it gets.

 A couple of days, though, I was just too lazy and too hungry to turn on the water oven, seal the chicken, throw it into the water for 45 minutes and then sear it.
So I flattened it, marinated it with olive oil, rosemary, garlic, pepper, salt and chilies and grilled it on my super hot grill plate for a couple of minutes. Besides of the 4 fire alarms I caused (just on this occasion), it tasted awesome - smoky, with a garlicky, herby character.
Yes - it wasn't at all as tender and juicy as a sous vide chicken, nor it tasted so true like chicken - but I didn't cared. The marination time was enough, to brine the chicken sufficiently and keep enough moisture inside - and after all, I was not after a elaborate and sophisticated night meal, but after a fast and rustic one.

I believe, that some could apply for flank or bavette steaks - or grilled or seared vegetables and so on.
Sometimes food can be rustic and more "blue collar".

Sous vide also has its limitation - it is not the wonder technique - recently I bought a burger, which was so overworked, that even cooked sous vide, the meat tasted like a sausage.

This having said, I have a lamb shank in my fridge, which will be cooked in the water bath for 3 or so days, and my proper minced meat will also end up in a sous vide burger...
A occasional side step of my favorite techniques doesn't necessary mean, that I am neglecting my SV rig!

Hühnerfrikassee - German Chicken Casserole - Sous Vide

Fresh in love, it is one of my adventures to expose my Kenyan girlfriend to German cuisine. Well- I rarely do this - I am just to comfortable with my very own style of cooking- but some dishes are just worth to do.

One of this dishes is Hühnerfrikassee. But I can't really do a traditional recipe traditionally. This wouldn't be me...

So let's start- what is chicken fricassee? It is a chicken stew in a white cream enriched sauce with some vegetable. And it is delicious! In short it is poached chicken, carrots, asparagus, mushrooms, peas in a white roux based on chicken stock.

Usually, it is a simple affair- poach a chicken in vegetable enriched water until done and let it chill down. Roast some wheat flour in butter. Add stock (your chicken water) to the still blonde roasted flour. Stir and whisk until smooth. Add some diced vegetable and cook them through (put the vegetable at different times into it). Add chicken add some cream, some capers and lemon juice to taste (and don't forget to season at all times). And serve with rice.

Usually the chicken is a bit on the dry and stringy side, the vegetables are too soft (except of the peas - smart cooks put frozen peas just a couple of minutes before serving into the pot)... The sauce is usually to flour heavy, or too thin.

My attempt is slightly different!

I sous vide'd the chicken breast at 62.5°C for 1.5h. Put also the chicken legs into the bath- but the chicken breast came into the ice bath, I did increased the water to 75°C and cooked for another 2h.

The vegetables were cooked separate at 85°C for 30-45 min.

 I made a pressure cooker chicken stock (with the carcass of the used chicken, plus a package of chicken wings) and clarified it with ground chicken and egg white. Then I made a roux with less flour.

I added asparagus and peas into the roux, then added the chopped chicken meat and the other vegetable (I used carrots, turnips, leek, green asparagus, baby marrow, mushrooms and peas). I took half of the roux out of the pot and added drained silken tofu to it and blended it. This gave a lovely texture and thickness, without being overly floury.

The I just put everything together and voilà!

It was simply the best chicken fricassee I ever had. The chicken was super moist and tender and flavorful... The vegetable perfectly cooked, the sauce voluminous without being heavy!

But where is light, there is also shadow:

• I didn't seasoned the vegetable and the chicken, before putting them into the bags (except of the turnips and carrots which I put together with some salt and a pinch of sugar). I salted everything afterwards, but it would have been much better, if everything was seasoned in the bag.

• the leek had a kinda stringy texture... I'll try to cook it longer the next time!

• I forgot to buy capers (dammit)!

• I was too lazy to blend up some sauce separately to have a bit more airiness...

As you can see- nothing major.

The only thing inconvenient is, that I have only one sous vide rig- and that chicken breasts, chicken legs and vegetable have to cook at different temperatures...

At least try to use silken tofu in your cream sauces... Doesn't sound very good, but the texture is amazing, the sauce is lighter and healthier!

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