Thursday, May 29, 2008

Our Generation

As time progresses so does our food. Each generation adapts previous dishes to better fit the generational needs. Our parents were part of generation of simplicity. Television began to broadcast shows based around cooking in the home which encouraged more young cooks to step in the kitchen. T.V. Chefs such as Julie Child showed a generation how make simple and good. Dishes contained simple flavors that allowed families to have good meals at home.


While Julie Child helped jumpstart the new fad that is food television, the newer shows such as Iron Chef America and Top Chef have began to form an all new breed of young chefs. These new shows have helped make the transition from easy home cooked meals to giving people the knowledge to create complex sophisticated dishes. Times of families cooking meatloaf and Mac and cheese are changing; families are now grinding their own meat and making their own Mac and cheese while adding ingredients such as peppers, roasted garlic, onions, shallots, and herbs. The newer television shows are bringing five-star cuisine out of the over-priced restaurant and onto the plates of families.

Our generation is also becoming more and more technology driven; we live in a time where a five year old can run a computer better than their grandparents (or parents in some cases). That focus on technology has carried over to the food of our generation. More and more chefs are bringing incredible uses of technology into their food. Take Chef Wylie Dufresne, executive chef at WD -50 in New York: Chef Dufresne is considered my most to be a mad chemist rather than a chef. All menus in his restaurant are edible. Dufresne also makes use of many interesting chemicals to make normal everyday ingredients have completely different textures and tastes; (flexible fois gras, fruit foams, and many other unique culinary ingredients).
While each generation while makes its own impact on the culinary world, we as a generation must not forget those before us. It may be up to us to make an impact on the food our generation creates, but it is also up to us to preserve what is great about the food before us. More and more chefs may be adding foams and gastriqes to their menu but a simple soup and perfectly cooked steak will never go out of style.

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