Post modernism in Cuisine
What is modernism? It is a phase in evolution of an art form where it critically re-evaluates its fundamentals and reinvents its very essence. Art, architecture passed through this essential phase in the early 20th century giving us modern art and modernist architecture exemplified by the likes of Le' Corbusier. The way chefs and commoners prepared food remained unchanged for centuries until pioneers like Ferran Adria and Heston Blumenthal began to challenge our senses and sensibilities by reinventing food and creating the movement that was initially called molecular gastronomy. This movement which re-examines the very idea of food on the basis of modern nutrition and organic chemistry should ideally have been called Modernist cuisine all along. It required the path breaking book Modernist Cuisine by Nathan Myhrvold to bring the name into popular lexicon.
Post modernism is the response to modernism. It takes the destruction of the decadent old order by the torch of modernism to clear dead wood so that new growth and creativity can flourish, even reinventing the old, but with the solid foundations of science and nutrition.
It is remarkable that most of traditional cuisine is based on beliefs which predate modern science. They have more in common with the notions of traditional healing rather than scientific principles or nutrition or even food safety. Spotlight of science and critical scientific interrogation will help us reinvent our traditional cuisine in more robust health without sacrificing taste.
You may not find any revolutionary new recipe in this blog. But old recipes have been deconstructed and remade either for convenience or consistency or modern tastes.
