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MY COMMENTERS IS SMARTER THAN I: JINGOISM EDITION
In reply to my turkey burger recipe, Casper writes:
This is what America does best regarding cooking instruction. Not intimidated by tradition, we can use trial and error (Cook's Illustrated/ATK) or science (Shirley Corriher, Alton Brown) to reinvent the best recipes. You want 3-day Coq au Vin, go to the French. You want a weeknight version, our side will find a way.Forget soft power, this is soft, creamy power with a slightly gamey taste.
COMMENTS (8)
Yeah, and for this we get -- cold cereal, invented by a quack and a lousy breakfast; sodas that are mainly corn syrup and sometime caffeine; hamburger helper; Velveeta; etc., etc., etc.
Feh.
Posted by: David in NY | December 11, 2007 6:30 PM
America also invents magic no-knead homemade bread that tastes AMAZING.
http://www.slashfood.com/2006/11/16/no-knead-bread-takes-over-the-world/
Although if one wants to be honest, on cooking jingoism Americans probably lose. The truly deconstructive and investigational cooking hasn't come from the US, it's come from Europe. The Catalan region of Spain with Adria's work with molecular gastronomy is the current mecca for chefs who specialize in science, trial and error, wild experimentation, putting aside old traditions and rules. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Molecular_gastronomy
I don't know if you can say America does anything "best" regarding culinary instruction. However, America's culinary inventive spirit is spectacularly well harnessed in the development of mass production regimes for low-cost food, every step of the way. Containment farming, monoculture, processed food, fertilizers & pesticides, precook & flash freezing--we are global leaders in food industrialization.
We're less the masters of "weekday coq au vin" and more the masters of "coq au vin on a bun for $2.99!!!"
Posted by: anon | December 11, 2007 7:14 PM
Ezra:
Add caramelized onions and Tillamook smoked peppercorn cheddar. Finish with wholegrain mustard.
So delicious.
-- ACS
Posted by: ACS | December 11, 2007 8:20 PM
I think that recent Slate article hit it on the nose when it described molecular gastronomy as the gourmet version of Doritos-making. Still, I was tickled by Anthony Bourdain's description of his visit to Ferran Adria's El Bulli. He couldn't believe what was happening.
Posted by: Glenn Fayard | December 11, 2007 10:55 PM
The tradeoff for our struggle for an egalitarian cuisine is:
Rachel Ray
I'm not sure we've done so well.
Posted by: Fnor | December 11, 2007 11:47 PM
I know of no modern Coq au Vin recipe that takes three days to make. It's labor-intensive for a one-pot meal, but you can make it same-day without trouble.
I'm not a cooking purist but I get tired of hipster cooks exaggerating the difficulty of classic recipes. Anyone can make Coq au Vin.
APS
Posted by: Ape Man | December 12, 2007 11:51 AM
On the subject of things Americans do best, I nominate cheesy grits.
Mmmmm. Cheesy grits.
APS
Posted by: Ape Man | December 12, 2007 11:54 AM
Apparently, the big thing (I've never had it) is shrimp and grits.
Posted by: Glenn Fayard | December 12, 2007 3:22 PM