why do we torne the potato?

Details: Published on Sunday, 07 August 2011 18:13; Hits: 293

Appetizer: Crabby shrimp en croute (Tomato puff pastry,artichoke pesto,lump crab meat with artichoke white wine
cream sauce)

Entree: Chesapeake Stripped Bass (sun dried tomato,kalamata olives,artichoke hearts,capers,olive oil)

I made some puff pastry and put concentrated tomato paste into the butter fold, it was fun to work with and went well with the shrimp and the crab. The presentation was a little goofy but I like goofy sometimes. Goofy puts them off balance because when they taste the combination of flavors the snickering stops and the groaning begins. This with a chardonnay with no oak...

The fish was too beautiful not to take a picture of. I would take those fillets to the prom. On the east coast we have the Connecticut River, the Hudson River, and the Chesapeake Bay Stripped Bass. Ichthyologist can identify these three seperate groups by the
pattern of the stripes. The Sacramento River in Ca. has the Hudson River bass as it was transported there in the last century. Who cares as long as its super fresh right?

We left off last week with Thomas asking me questions Socrates might have trouble answering. The roulade of salmon had grilled squash and torne potato. I included a picture of a mushroom torne tonight. Thomas's question was why do we torne the potato? Simple enough.

In cooking school the answer to that was "to insure uniform cooking." Put that on the test and it was marked correct. Cooking is similar to some religions in that we take bad information and just keep passing it along. With that spirit in mind my reply to Thomas was "To insure uniform cooking"

I know that makes me sound like a bad guy but if you can get a sixteen year old to shut up for a few minutes I consider it a moral victory. A truthful answer would have been more complicated, as I have come to realize the uniform cooking thing is a crock. Its all about presentation and demonstration of control. Cooking parallels many art forms and occupations in that manipulation of time and temperature is crux to its fundamentals. If to shape a potato is to insure uniform cooking why doesn't everyone do it? Haven't seen one in my Chinese take out yet. So what culture finds this time worthy? The one that will bake bricks and build cathedrals, shoot an elephant for its tusks to adorn an instrument, etc, etc...

I guess my point here at 1:06 a.m. is that the manner in which food is presented is no more that a reflection of the culture itself. We call what we do the "Culinary Arts". Is the artistry just a display of control? The new sous vide cooking techniques and "Modernist Cooking" does not introduce any new concepts, just more gadgets and expensive equipment to control the cooking environment. It further seperates us from the food. A good example of this point would be the Wok. I have not seen one with a thermostat yet.
You have to handle it properly and use your senses. The oil smells a certain way and smokes the right color when its ready. You have to listen to the crackle of a drop of water to know when to start. Its movement is critical and takes experience for good results. This however is not a rant against progress. I think my point has to be that good cooking needs to be a display of an appreciation of nature and our gifts(i.e. ingredients), not a manipulation of them solely using food as our muse. The pleasure I have from Elvi's garden, being able to present fish the way we did tonight, I think of myself more as an escort for these magnificent things and not the creator of anything. But about that torne potato....

Best,
Mike