
The End of Cuisine - wallflower
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/06/15/style/tmagazine/endofcuisine.html?_r=0
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morsch
What are the things out of modernist cooking that I can actually, you know,
use? I'm not going to "mold casts from real kumquats" and then use them to
serve "sugar cubes that were rubbed on kumquat skin to extract its flavor". I
like to cook, and I like to eat, and I'd have little qualms about using
modernist cooking techniques, but they all seem to involve an expense of time
and equipment that I'm not willing to invest given the alternatives.

I guess sous-vide is making it into some regular kitchens beholden to the laws
of time and space.

~~~
IvyMike
I have a similar skepticism of modernist cooking. I have very egalitarian
ideas about good food--it should be for everyone. This has probably never been
true, but the fact that people are trying to make new foods that are even
harder for the common person to achieve rubs me the wrong way.

Of course my idea of a perfect meal trends towards amazing Banh Mi from a food
truck rather than Kobe Beef fillet mignon, so YMMV.

~~~
2muchcoffeeman
_Of course my idea of a perfect meal trends towards amazing Banh Mi from a
food truck rather than Kobe Beef fillet mignon, so YMMV._

This reminds me of the Iron Chef intro where we see Masaharu Morimoto eating a
hotdog (or something) sitting on a step while reading a newspaper.

As a foodie myself I'm not sure why you have to choose one meal over another.
I've lined up for Banh Mi, and warm jam doughnuts being sold from a truck, and
I've spent hundreds of dollars on multi-course meals. They were all 'perfect'
meals in their own context.

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ebbv
> “Cooking at this level is like giving a concert,” he said. “No one in their
> right mind gives 300 concerts a year.”

Many musicians, even famous and successful ones, do just that.

I love food, including expensive, fancy food. I grow vegetables, and I have a
CSA where I get local vegetables weekly.

Food like Myhrvold's, to me, is rich, ignorant assholes behaving like rich,
ignorant assholes. I say ignorant because while they may be well versed in
certain areas, their knowledge is very narrow and skewed. They fancy
themselves adventurous intellectuals, when in reality they are precisely the
opposite. They are some of the most closed minded people you will find.

Also, for anyone who doesn't already know, Intellectual Ventures (Myhrvold's
IP troll firm) is one of the worst. A little Googling on their actions tells
you everything you need to know about what kind of person he is.

~~~
Fr0styMatt
Can you give some more examples of the kinds of closed-mindedness you're
trying to get at? I'm trying to understand your line of thought. Are you
saying that Myhrvold is being an asshole because he's elevating what he is
doing to a much higher level than it justifies?

Not agreeing or disagreeing - genuinely curious.

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jaimebuelta
I find interesting that high level cuisine is growing more and more detached
from "eating". It is more similar to an spectacle, when one should be
surprised or even shocked, and it's not designed to be done everyday.

It is more and more about creating an experience, and ends up being totally
different from some sort of "high quality feeding".

~~~
archagon
This what I really like about "modernist cuisine", and why I think it's silly
that some people consider it the future of cooking. It's really fun and
delightful to very occasionally enjoy food as prepared by a mad scientist, you
know? If I'm shelling out $200 for a meal, I'd rather experience it as this
sort of ephemeral performance art rather than yet another perfect, but
ultimately unmemorable, traditional dish. But aside from the occasional
technique or two (sous vide), nobody's gonna be doing this sort of stuff at
home.

~~~
adriand
I agree, this is what I find intriguing (although I've never experienced it).
It seems to be a little bit like thinking, "okay, we have these various very
sensitive chemical and touch receptors in our mouths, what else can we do with
them?" The answer of course is still "food" but only because we don't want to
consume things that are poisonous or inedible.

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russell_h
Nathan Myhrvold appears to be a co-founder of Intellectual Ventures.

~~~
tzs
So? He also an amateur paleontologist whose work in that field has been
published in Nature, has masters degrees in both space physics and
mathematical economics, a PhD in theoretical physics, has worked as a postdoc
for Stephen Hawking, is an award winning nature photographer, won first place
at the Memphis barbecue championship, and is one volcano lair away from true
mad scientist territory with his proposals for large scale geoengeering to
deal with climate change.

People at his level somehow manage to have both a very diverse set of
interests and to excel at all of them. It's kind of annoying...I have a very
diverse set of interests, and I suck at most of them. How do they do it?

~~~
eitland
> People at his level somehow manage to have both a very diverse set of
> interests and to excel at all of them.

I guess it helps a lot if you are really really rich and have time to do
whatever you want for days on end.

I also guess some people would say Nathan Myhrvold is rich partially because
he is running a very successful extortion scheme (my mind is not made up.)

~~~
waterlesscloud
My guess is he's rich because his company got bought for $1.5 million in
Microsoft stock in 1986.

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Goopplesoft
Was anyone else rubbed the wrong way by that closing paragraph? It almost
seems like in bad attempt to sound 'deep' makes little of everything that went
into the meal.

Interestingly Nathan has a recipe for the 'ultimate burger'
[http://modernistcuisine.com/2011/12/the-ultimate-
burger/](http://modernistcuisine.com/2011/12/the-ultimate-burger/)

~~~
freyr
Not me. Though the author is gracious to Mhyrvold and recognizes the rare
opportunity to join in this meal, he does not seem especially complimentary to
the food. Actually, he seems unimpressed. Despite all the technical wizardry,
the meal might have simply fallen short of something prepared simply. It's a
valid opinion.

~~~
Goopplesoft
Then perhaps he was the wrong person to do the article considering thats quite
a contrast to Adria's (who has quite established ethos in tasting/food)
seemingly positive opinion of meal.

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simonebrunozzi
The more I read about Myrvhold, the more I don't like him. Seems like a
billionaire who needs to find a way to define himself.

~~~
pingswept
There is a lot to dislike about him. A man who becomes the preeminent patent
troll after already having a enough money to do anything he wants-- worst kind
of person, if you ask me.

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juanre
Only tangentially related: if you like cooking and understanding what you do,
Jeff Potter's Cooking for Geeks is a wonderful book.

[http://shop.oreilly.com/product/9780596805890.do](http://shop.oreilly.com/product/9780596805890.do)

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daviddumenil
'Page not found' for that URL.

This one works though:
[http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/06/15/style/tmagazin...](http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/06/15/style/tmagazine/endofcuisine.html?_r=0)

~~~
dang
Thanks; changed.

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enoch_r
This is completely unrelated to the point of the article, but this struck me:

> To fight malaria, the lab has invented a “photonic fence” device that
> identifies, tracks and zaps female mosquitoes (only females bite humans).

Can anyone explain why it's important enough to _only_ kill the females that
we might want to add (presumably expensive) sex-identification technology to
mosquito zappers that are aimed at eliminating malaria in poor countries?

~~~
Ryel
I don't think this is what you're talking about but one of the ways of killing
mosquitos is to lace a gallon of water with a chemical that attracts adults
and kills them along with any eggs. In practice, this would basically target
only females.

After a quick search I found this link leading to a page of Intellectual
Venture's

[http://www.intellectualventures.com/inventions-
patents/our-i...](http://www.intellectualventures.com/inventions-patents/our-
inventions/photonic-fence/)

It's pretty cool but unfortunately looks tied to IV. My first guess might be
to avoid any criticism that by killing ALL mosquitos, they're harming the
ecosystem. I guess that's wishful thinking for a company that I kind of
despise even being on their website.

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sheltgor
Interesting tidbit at the end on Dicks, and I completely agree. As simple as
it is (only four variations on the burger, cheese, no cheese, all the fixings,
double with everything, one size of fries, shakes, and that's their entire
menu), one can really appreciate it.

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michaelfeathers
Funny that this is called Modernist Cuisine. It's very ornamental and
inventive. Most Modernist movements had their heyday in the early 20th
century. Maybe it is because of the technological focus.

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indubitably
50 courses?

Disgusting.

