Masters of the kitchen
Masters of the kitchen
Ten of the world's master chefs and 100 top contemporary chefs - it's obvious why this is Liam Tomlin's ultimate cookbook.
With the names of some of the world's most recognised chefs adorning the cover, this book can't fail to grab the attention of any food enthusiast. These 10 masters of food - Ferran Adrià, Alain Ducasse, Alice Waters, René Redzepi, Jacky Yu, Yoshihiro Murata, Fergus Henderson, Shannon Bennett, Mario Batali and Gordon Ramsay - selected today's 100 most significant chefs working in the four corners of the globe in compiling Coco (Phaidon, 2010).
From Alex Atala of D.O.M. in Sãu Paulo and Jason Atherton of Maze, London, (who recently left the Gordon Ramsay stable to open his own restaurant) to Martin Benn of Sepia in Sydney, Yosuke Suga of L'atelier de Joël Robuchon, Taipei, and Chris Salans of Mozaic restaurant in Ubud, Bali, Coco profiles the chefs, their kitchens and includes recipes that have had particular significance through their careers.
Coco appeals to me not just as a cookbook, but also a guide and an insight into the next generation of the world's leading chefs to watch and follow - many already acknowledged in S.Pellegrino's 50 Best Restaurants in the world. Not all of them are producing ground-breaking or aweinspiring food, but they do have several common characteristics, including the fact that they are consummate professionals, using the best seasonal produce available to them and showcasing it at its best. (And in so doing, have clearly made a big impression on their mentors.)
I have had the pleasure of working alongside and befriending some of the selected 100, as well as dining at their restaurants, and I can't help but note that in certain instances these ‘contemporary chefs' have actually surpassed the ‘master chefs' who selected them.
Having worked in Australia for 14 years, I am especially fascinated by the inclusion of a number of chefs from Down Under, and to observe the progressive food trends since I ate in some of them, particularly those owned by Martin Benn and Mark Best.
I met Martin when we both worked with Dietmar Sawyer at Restaurant Forty One, widely recognised as one of the best dining experiences in Sydney. He left to work for Tetsuya Wakuda, also in Sydney, and later travelled to Hong Kong to broaden his career before going on to open his own restaurant, Sepia, in Sydney. His appearance in this book is well-deserved and hard-earned.
Another of the book's stars is Chris Malan, a very gifted chef who has worked under some of the top chefs in the world. I have wonderful memories of the surprise I got when I first experienced his dishes at Mozaic in Bali; some of the finest cuisine I have ever eaten. The food served here is the type one would expect in a Michelin-starred restaurant in London, New York or Paris, except at Mozaic you're looking out onto a jungle, sitting among rice fields in a little mountain village of Ubud.
Chris' classical training, combined with Balinese influence, produces truly amazing results and is an example of how each chef profiled in Coco is unique in style, from the very simple to the very complex. But most of all, the book will give you an insight into current food trends and the chefs breaking gastronomic boundaries, those at the forefront of the culinary world today.
I do have one criticism of the book, however. Every time I thumb through it, I'm cruelly reminded that I am sitting at home, not dining in one of these fine restaurants!
Liam Tomlin recently opened Chefs Warehouse & Cookery School in Cape Town, stocking kitchen equipment, knives, cookbooks and essential ingredients. www.chefswarehouse.co.za
