A gracious retirement

Spoon HQ like Spoon PR has recently retired.

On social media SpoonHQ is now known as SarahCanetSauce.

Sarah Canet who was Spoon HQ has taken a leap into the world of work. She is now the new Director International at Sauce Communications.

She is very happy to be contacted via email. Her new electronic address is sarah (@) saucecommunications.com – she will still be looking after Niklas Ekstedt and his Michelin starred fire restaurant Ekstedt in Stockholm, Nathan Mynrvold and his Modernist Cuisine series of books including Modernist Bread which will be launched around the end of May 2017 and Massimo Bottura and his  restaurant in Modena Italy Osteria Francescana. She is also going to be working with the extraordinary Ben Shewry and Attica restaurant in Melbourne.

Modernist Bread: pre-order now

After the huge success of Nathan Myhrvold’s ‘Modernist Cuisine’ and ‘Modernist Cuisine at Home’, at last, his much anticipated ‘Modernist Bread: The Art and Science‘ has had its last prove, has been popped in the oven and is ready to pre-order.

This is the largest-known bread cookbook to date with over 2,300 pages filled with the science and global history of bread making, in addition to traditional and Modernist techniques, ingredients and extensively tested and perfected recipes. Nathan and his photographic team’s exquisite photographs add a vibrancy and visual aid which guide the reader ever more succinctly into achieving the perfect bake. Expect to see every stage of fermentation, proofing, cooking and the final product in extensive detail.

From microbiology and baking to the dispelling of the myth behind gluten intolerance, Nathan and his co-writer and head chef Francisco Migoya leave no stone unturned. The incentive behind the book came from the ubiquity of bread and the fact that it has become a mundane accompaniment, a common staple of the kitchen. Modernist Bread dispels this attitude. This book not only explains how to make the perfect classic loaf, but it also covers breads from around the world, using different flours and flavour combinations. Any reader will learn countless skills and techniques; those which professional bakers have used for years and still use today. These recipes have been tested hundreds of times by Myhrvold and his team to assure that that each and every owner of Modernist Bread can bake perfect bread.

Homebakers, chefs and bread novices alike will see bread in a completely different way after reading ‘Modernist Bread’. This humble staple is on the rise, it’s something to get excited about and soon that comforting smell of freshly home-baked bread will be filling our homes once more.

What do you think about bread these days? Is it something you make at home? Do you have a restaurant with fabulous bread? And what about your shops, do you have a great baker in your neighbourhood?

Spoon HQ would love to hear from you.

Photo credit The Cooking Lab

 

 

 

 

Spatulas at the Ready!

Let the new TV Food Fight begin.

It’s “spatulas at the ready” today as Amazon launched its first ever food programme – Eat the World with Emeril Lagasse whilst at the same time Netflix launched its third Chef’s Table series.

Eat The World with Emeril Legasse

In the Amazon Video exclusive show, Emeril hits the road with his best chef friends to discover popular food movements and local culinary traditions.

At Spoon HQ, we’re especially thrilled to finally be able to watch this new foodie documentary as our client Niklas Ekstedt of Restaurant Ekstedt appears in it.

In episode one of Eat the World, US based Chef Marcus Samuelsson visits his homeland of Sweden to give Emeril a firsthand nibble from the recent food movement which the film makers have named ‘The New Nordic‘. Emeril experiences cooking without electricity with chef Niklas Ekstedt who describes the cuisine he delivers at Ekstedt restaurant as a ‘Game of Thrones style of cooking’. No gas or electricity is used to heat the ingredients for the dishes that Niklas and his team serve in their Michelin starred central Stockholm restaurant. They only use the power that comes from burning wood. Make no mistake, this is not a barbecue place. Ingredients are placed on the embers, hung over the flames, deftly pushed into the wood burning oven, smoked or tended to carefully on the wood burning stove. Ancient cooking techniques are employed to a wonderfully modern effect. His is the antidote to modernist cuisine cooking.

Cast iron, another is also a crucial element in both Game of Thrones times and at Ekstedt.

Spoon HQ has already had two stars in the competing mega teams Amazon v Netflix. The romantic story of Massimo Bottura and Lara Gilmore of Osteria Francescana in Chef’s Table on Netflix has proved a world wide hit in their first food show.

Who will win the battle Amazon or Netflix?

How to watch

Eat The World with Emeril Legasse: Season 1 comprising six episodes is available now on Amazon Prime. You can watch the first episode for free if you’re not an Amazon Prime user on the Amazon Video App (you just need an Amazon account).

Chefs Table: Sign up to Netflix. They currently have a first month for free offer to tempt you in offer in.

Be careful, these online TV providers are very, very good at hooking you in with their deliciously addictive content.

Where to meet Niklas Ekstedt

London Dates

Meatopia 02/09/2016 & 03/09/2016

Carousel 06/09/2016 – 10/09/2016

His new book – Food from the Fire – his first by a British publisher is coming out on 08/09/2016. Available from Amazon and all good book shops.

photograph courtesy of Pavilion Haarala Hamilton

Further watching / reading

Niklas explains his story at TEDx Stockholm

Culinary Institute of America visits Niklas.

Niklas Ekstedt by Sarah Canet

 

And what about the tug of war between Online or terrestrial? ….

Thank you for reading.

Sarah & Pauline.

 

 

 

 

Announcement from the British Street Food Awards

Finally. It’s here. After one massive road trip, tracking down the best of British street food in four regional heats, the public will get to vote for their winners at the 2016 British Street Food Awards. This almighty food fight will take place over one weekend (17th & 18th September) at the Digbeth Dining Club, in Birmingham, which has won the award for Best Street Food Event twice in the last three years. It will be the stuff of legend.

Whether it’s London Union, and their plan to open up to 20 new street food markets in London, or the new Taste Buchanan street food market in Glasgow – on the third floor – street food is exploding. And the British Street Food Awards’ drive to find the next big thing has never been more necessary.

© British Street Food Awards

Traders have been cooking up a storm to win the Awards since 2010, but this year has been the best ever. They have set up shop in some perfect ‘found’ places – including Leeds Dock, an oyster festival in County Down and Blackheath Common. The Rainbow Arena, an old builder’s yard overlooked by the disused railway line that runs through the heart of Digbeth, will take things to a new level.

The Festival will be the ultimate expression of the street food lifestyle. And about much much more than food. The very best traders from all across the UK, will be gathered together in one place for the public’s finger lickin’ pleasure. But they’ll be doing what they do against a backdrop of live music, beer buckets, street art, 8-bit gaming, fire pits and #vibes unbounded.

© British Street Food Awards

British Street Food are launching the world’s first street food craft beer at the Festival – which will work alongside everything from tofu to tacos. London Craft brewers UBREW and BSFA alumni have selflessly given time (and tacos) to develop a session beer to be proud of. Plus there’s LeftFoot DJs, JamJah Sound, Dead Pixels retro gaming and street art. And seminars on the future of food.

Winners of the Awards will qualify for a coveted pitch in Trinity Kitchen, the street food mall in the sky curated by British Street Food, and a month of pitches at one of London Union’s markets in London. Plus a set of crockery from Steelite for all those lifestyle photoshoots in the Saturday supplements. But – best of all – they will win the respect of their peers.

© British Street Food Awards

2016 is proving an exciting year for British Street Food, as they continue to grow the movement. They are franchising street food brands and – this Autumn – moving in on the country’s pub kitchens with the British Street Food Pub Takeover. But the British Street Food Awards are the foundation of everything they do. It’s where they get to showcase exciting new talent. And parade the best of the Original Gangstas. Do NOT miss out.

For LIVE results follow @britstreetfood
For pictures on the day @britishstreetfood

Richard Johnson, organiser of the British Street Food Festival – © Jason Alden

About the British Street Food Awards
Launched in 2009, the British Street Food Awards are all about recognizing the best of the 10,000 mobilers who sell their wares on our streets. Full information is available at: www.britishstreetfood.co.uk and www.facebook.com/britishstreetfood . The British Street Food Festival is proud to work to the NCASS Standards of Best Practice.

Participate in a new BBC Food Show

Voltage TV (who makes BBC TWO’s Inside The Factory) is currently making a new BBC food series and is looking to hear from families who are passionate about food and home-cooking. The team at Voltage TV thought that perhaps a reader of the Spoon HQ blog might be keen to participate.

If you or if you know someone who’s a big character and is passionate about their home cooked food, get in touch – food@voltage.tv.

Happy cooking.

Food for Soul and Gastromotiva give life to RefettoRio during the 2016 Olympics

The RefettoRio in the Lapa neighborhood – Photo: Leo Aversa

Together with chef Massimo Bottura, chef and founder of Gastromotiva David Hertz will create a soup kitchen in the Lapa neighborhood of Rio de Janeiro.

Food for Soul will work hand to hand with Gastromotiva, a non­profit organization founded by David Hertz, to recreate the model of the community kitchen first launched in Milan. The synergy created between the two organizations and supported by the food journalist Alexandra Forbes, will lead to the opening of RefettoRio Gastromotiva on August, the 9th. At least 5,000 free meals will be provided to those in need throughout the whole period of the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

The idea of taking the project of Massimo Bottura to Brazil came in 2015, when Gastromotiva cooked at Refettorio Ambrosiano for the homeless of Greco neighbourhood. From the very beginning, Food for Soul supported the Brazilian association in making the dream come true.

Work in progress… – Photo: Leo Aversa

The project aims to offer food and dignity to people in situations of social vulnerability. Chefs invited from all around the world will cook tasty and nutritious meals from the food surplus of the Olympic Village. The model reproduces that of Refettorio Ambrosiano, created by Massimo Bottura, where more than 65 international chefs cooked with food waste coming from the pavilions of ExpoMilan 2015. Former Gastromotiva students will be amongst the staff of the new project in Rio de Janeiro: young culinary talents thus will be empowered. Many chefs from all over the world already answered the call launched by Food for Soul: Andoni Luis Aduriz, Andrea Berton, Mauro Colagreco, Alain Ducasse, Leonor Espinosa, Carlos Garcia, Rodolfo Guzman, Francis Mallmann, Virgilio Martinez and Pia Leon, Davide Oldani, Elena Reygadas, Joan Roca, Kamilla Seidler, Thomas and Claude Troisgros and Mitsuharu Tsumura will cook at RefettoRio throughout the period of the Olympics. Brazilian chefs have been invited to be part of the project; among those, there are Alex Atala, Felipe Bronze, Manu Buffara, Thiago and Felipe Castanho, Teresa Corçao, Rafa Costa e Silva, Alberto Landgraf, André Mifano, Rodrigo Oliveira, Helena Rizzo and Roberta Sudbrack.

RefettoRio will mark the new international identity of Food for Soul: thanks to the financial support of Pastificio Di Martino, Grundig, San Pellegrino and Pastificio Felicetti, the organization founded by Massimo Bottura will cross the Italian borders for the very first time when it heads to Brazil.

More information:

• Food for Soul
• Gastromotiva
• Osteria Francescana

Recent Articles

• Rafael Tonon reports for EATER on 3 August 2016

 

Some of you may have heard of the Refettorio Bronx project with De Niro, however it is still too premature to talk about as the project is just at the planning stage. Chef Bottura and his team are still looking for local partners and a location in the area. When Robert de Niro visited Osteria Francescana, chef Bottura proposed the idea of working together on a project but it was not a formal agreement or commitment. There is simply the desire of working together to try to make it happen in 2017.

By Cristina Reni and Pauline Febvey.

Osteria Francescana takes No1 at World’s 50 Best Restaurants

Massimo Bottura standing in the doorway to Osteria Francescana. Portrait by Paolo Terzi.

“Cooking is not only about the quality of the ingredients but also the quality of the ideas” Massimo Bottura

Massimo Bottura opened Osteria Francescana in Bottura’s hometown of Modena in 1995. From early on, the restaurant engaged in a profound exploration of territory and tradition, the expression of which can be found in the absolute concentration of flavours guided by Bottura’s definition: “Tradition seen from 10 kilometres away”. Today Osteria Francescana continues to redefine Italy’s rich gastronomic heritage, ingredients and culinary traditions with the benefit of critical distance, contemporary cooking techniques, and a great desire to see the Italian kitchen evolve.

Osteria Francescana faced years of criticism even after receiving the first and second Michelin stars in 2002 and 2006. When Osteria Francescana entered the World’s 50 Best Restaurants list at 13th place in 2009, it was met with an Italian television scandal accusing them of threatening the Italian kitchen. These challenges reinforced the restaurant’s contemporary approach to the Italian kitchen. Today Osteria Francesana is considered the best restaurant in Italy and one of the most influential in the world. Osteria Francescana was awarded a third Michelin star in 2011 and is currently ranked no 1 on the World’s 50 Best Restaurants list.

“The artworks on the walls are the landscape of our ideas.”

Massimo Bottura

Photo by Paolo Terzi

Osteria Francescana is situated in a century-old osteria that has been transformed over the past 21 years into a laboratory of culture, art and design. Storytelling enriches the dinning experience and the kitchen never shies from making references to art, music and history to provoke emotion, memory and taste. Guests at the restaurant’s 12 tables are able to choose from the à la Carte menu or from two distinct tasting menus.

Art has had a fundamental role in the evolution of the kitchen, not only from an aesthetic point of view but also a conceptual one. Over the years, the restaurant has collected contemporary art with paintings, photographs and sculptures from acclaimed Italian and international artists all of which have helped to define the restaurant’s iconoclastic style and poetic interpretations. The most recent addition to the collection is a Duane Hanson sculpture of a security guard named “Frankie” who silently greets guests at the restaurant’s entrance.

“If you live an incredible moment of happiness, that happiness is much deeper and bigger if you share it with others.”
Massimo Bottura

Osteria Francescana is more than a restaurant. It is an extended family of professionals, many of who are central to the restaurant’s identity. Beppe Palmieri has lead the front of house at Osteria Francescana as both maître d’ and sommelier over the past 16 years. His open and intimate approach to pairing has followed the evolution of the kitchen. This is expressed in the wide range of wine producers, artisinal beers and juices he weaves into the pairings as well as his signature cocktails. The kitchen staff features the complimentary talents of Davide di Fabio from Abruzzo and Takahiko Kondo from Tokyo who both arrived at Osteria Francescana in 2004. Davide possesses the unique ability to manage the irrational while Takahiko applies obsessive rigor to his strive for precision. Their loyalty has contributed to the distinguished solidity of our team.

“Cooking is a call to act.” Massimo Bottura

Boundlessly energetic and enthusiastic, chef and agitator Massimo Bottura has established his voice both in and outside the kitchen. He is a speaker, author and charismatic leader.

2014 saw the release of Bottura’s first English language book Never Trust a Skinny Italian Chef with Phaidon Press. The book shares twenty years of recipes, stories and ideas and has been translated into Dutch, French, Spanish and Italian. In 2015, new audiences were introduced to the world of Massimo Bottura through the work of director David Gelb in the Netflix documentary on Osteria Francescana from the series Chef’s Table.

Most recently, Massimo Bottura has been examining the role of the contemporary chef, calling for social responsibility among the culinary community and addressing the issue of food waste. During Expo 2015, the chef created an off-site Expo project in collaboration with the Vatican to address the problem of food waste and hunger in our cities. During Expo over sixty chefs from around the world joined him at Refettorio Ambrosino to cook for the homeless and develop innovative recipes for reducing waste in the kitchen. A documentary entitled Theatre of Life was filmed there and follows the efforts of Massimo Bottura as he and other chefs strive to bring dignity back to the table through working with salvaged food. It will be released in late 2016.

On April 3rd this year, at the MAD SYD symposium in Australia, Bottura introduced to the public Food for Soul, a no profit organization spurred on by the success of the Refettorio Ambrosiano in Milan. Founded by Bottura, Food for Soul envisions a world where communities fight food waste in the interest of social inclusion and individual well-being. Food for Soul is currently working on the opening of a second soup kitchen, Refettorio Rio, during the Olympic games in in collaboration with the Brazilian organization Gastromotiva. A book of recipes called Bread is Gold based on the Refettorio experience is to be released in 2017.

 

Press Contact:
Sarah Canet, Spoon PR. Telephone: +44 207 610 9821 Email: sarah@spoon-pr.com

“In my future, I see more future.”

Massimo Bottura

Osteria Francescana is closed on Sunday & Monday. Reservations are essential. Osteria Francescana, Via Stella 22 Modena 41121 Italy http://www.osteriafrancescana.it/reservations/

Osteria Francescana will be closed for its annual vacation between August 7th-Aug 22th 2016 and January 1st-January 17th 2017

Food for Soul
Via Rua Muro 85, 41121, Modena, Italy http://www.foodforsoul.it

Massimo Bottura & Facebook Live

On Wednesday 25 May 2016, Massimo Bottura had his first ever Facebook Live Experience. He was sitting in Montreal at the time, talking to a group of assembled journalists at the Phi centre but if you were “tuned” in to Facebook at the time you could have seen the event as it happened. Well over a thousand unique viewers watched the event and now you can too as it is still accessible on the Phi Centre Facebook page. Click here to view.

Portrait by Paolo Terzi

Here are a few images that the Phi Centre events team have sent through to Spoon HQ.

Massimo Bottura explains about Food for Soul in Montreal. Photo courtesy of Phi Centre.

Massimo Bottura listens intently. Photo courtesy of Phi Centre.

Massimo Bottura serves up a meal from “wasted” food at the Phi Centre Montreal. Photo by Martinel.

Massimo Bottura standing in the doorway to Osteria Francescana. Portrait by Paolo Terzi.

 

Lunch and a little Chit Chaat Chai

 

A time long ago my job was outsourced and I was made redundant. Ironically my next destination was probably where it was outsourced to. I left the organised routine and structures of London life, for the somewhat chaotic streets of Bangalore. As soon as I arrived I fell in love with the colourful flavours of Indian cuisine. In Britain we think of Indian food as chicken Tikka Masala and a pint of Cobra – this is far from the truth, I never once saw a Cobra beer or in fact much that resembled our beloved Saturday night takeaway.

Now what I did see and what brings me to Chit Chaat Chai, was street food vendors galore serving a multitude of foods in all different shapes and sizes each one unique to that region of India. Vendors usually specialised in just one item – now at Chit Chaat Chai they have made a restaurant focusing on these energetic flavours.

My boss and I popped over for a quick lunch on Tuesday last week during their soft launch. We ordered a collection of dishes to share and sat in the newly decorated upstairs perching on the long benches. We perched for a while, actually quiet a while, but we will excuse this as I suppose this is what soft launches are for.

Pani Puri

The food arrived and it most certainly was the scoff I had recalled in imagery from the cogs above. The flavours of Northern India were capsuled in a terrific Pani Puri that had an explosion of tangy water encompassing the sweet flavoured chickpeas. This was a true delight as it is something so very unique in texture and flavour too.

Keema Pau that was described on the menu as an Indian sloppy Joe is something that I had never tried before. It had a rich buttery flavour that worked in tandem with the evident flavours of Masala and what I believe was a mixture of minced chicken and lamb. Similar to this dish was the Pau Bhaji, although it was vegetarian it paraded a very similar flavour and texture to that of the Keema, both of these dishes were served with a couple of soft white breads and a miniature salad of cucumber, onion and tomato that added that extra desired texture. A little bit of bite.

Chilli Paneer

Our fourth dish was a Chilli Paneer, I don’t know if my boss noticed but I will now admit to hogging this dish just a little. The origin of the dish is unknown to me – I would imagine up in the Northeast around Calcutta or even in the mountains of Leh. I do adore the texture of fried Paneer as it squeaks across your teeth, the chilli and pepper sauce gave it an abundance of flavour. It has a strong Chinese influence, this is a fusion dish that has been around a long time before Wolfgang Puck decided to put Wontons on top of a chicken salad. Influenced most defiantly by the Sichuan region this dish was by far my favourite.

All in all it was a nice trip, but they must work on the speed of service as our quick lunch took well over an hour. I would recommend it as it something very different to what us Brits think is Indian food. This meal reminded me of the true flavours of India rather than having myself ponder in wonder how they achieved that nuclear orange colour.

By Oliver Ivey

 

Breaking the bread mould

Photo credited to Modernist Cuisine

Nathan Myhrvold and the Modernist Cuisine team’s latest exploration is into one of the greatest human creations. Bread. Throughout time this marvel has taken on numerous different shapes and sizes, these have been dependent on the resources and technology of the time. Recent archaeological discoveries now suggest that humans were harvesting grain 100,000 years ago. We originally believed it to have been just 10,000. Bread has been integral to our species; if you take a quick glance across the world you will see hundreds of different variations of our humble loaf, from Injera, the sourdough-risen flatbread of Ethiopia, to Damper, the traditional Australian bush bread cooked over hot coals, we have utilised what has been available to us to make our humble loafs.

The announcement of Modernist Cuisine’s new book on bread has been meet with an enormous amount of excitement. In just one day over 110,000 people were reached with the news. The Modernist Cuisine website had almost 6 times it’s daily views. Bread is something that has been portrayed to so many of the general public as evil – how can this be true, when we have been reliant on it for so many years. What is evil is what we have done to our beautiful bread and the sedentary lifestyle that a large number of us live that results in our expanding girths – our waist lines are not a result of this develish bread (I sit here on my high horse, the plumpest I have ever been). But I digress; the social media has been RISING, Modernist Cuisine received over 800 likes on their Instagram account on the day they announced the title, name and release date. Modernist Cuisine is currently gaining over 1000 new followers a week on Instagram alone.

Chefs, bakers and home cooks have all been sending over reams of questions regarding what the book will entail; “Will it include gluten free recipes?”, “Will it have information on baking at altitude?”. These questions will be answered on release, but there is no point in denying the fact bread is not evil. We love bread.

Something foodie with the real Willie Wonka

Photos credited to Modernist Cuisine 

Modernist Cuisine have now moved from their refurbished Harley Davidson showroom, to their new state of the art kitchen. Questlove’s tour of the new home of Modernist Cuisine and discussion with Nathan Myhrvold has been published in his new book Something to Food About, which was released in the USA this week.

In the chapter of Questlove’s book, Nathan and this music star discuss the development of food around the world and what has been the catalyst in this. Nathan believes that the discovery of the New World made a gigantic change to the food we ate and eat today, the explorers returned with tomatoes, chocolate, corn and revolutionised our diet. This has now been accelerated with air travel being so common; now for lunch our ever-expanding palate’s desire things such as Sushi or Thai food, nations have become melting pots for cuisines. On average, the world knows about all the world’s foods and hence why Nathan now believes the only way we shall fix our thirst for variety is to invent.

Art Culinaire also had the privilege of touring Modernist Cuisine and to sample some of the mystically marvellous things the modern moment’s Willie Wonka had to offer. The article can be found in Art Culinaire’s issue number 118, that is soon to be released.

By Oliver Ivey (The Plump one)