PrintGrant Achatz and Nathan Myhrvold Talk Food and Technology
Grant Achatz, Nathan Myhrvold.
On Wednesday night I attended a panel discussion that explored the ways that science and technology are transforming our notions of food and technology. The participants were Alinea's Grant Achatz, a newly minted author whose book we wrote about here) and former Microsoft chief technology officer Nathan Myhrvold, a food- and cooking-obsessed futurist. It was moderated by Wired senior editor Mark McClusky. It was a lively, informative, and, as you can imagine, extremely heady panel. There was even a fair amount of humor mixed in with the high-planed back and forth.
What do Achatz and Myhrvold think of molecular gastronomy as a name? Not much. What would they rather call it?
"Technoemotional cooking." Or maybe "modernist cuisine."
Technoemotional sounds like a band, doesn't it? Serious eaters, what would you rename the molecular gastronomy movement? We'll send the best name on to Grant Achatz and and Nathan Myrhvold and see what they think.
After the jump, the rest of the conversation's greatest hits.
Myhrvold says he is often criticized for his predilection for cooking with chemicals. His response: "I tell them chemicals are made with elements, too, aren't they?"
Achatz was asked about possible applications for the home cook of what he does. He said with a wry smile, "Aren't thermal circulators the new microwave? I have always thought so."
I asked them about where delicious intersects with technology. Achatz's response: "I tend to evaluate rather than enjoy." Fascinating response, isn't it?
Myhrvold said delicious is often not what he's going for. He's trying to provoke people to think about and to taste food in different way. The element of surprise kept coming up over and over again.
Fun Food Fact: Myhrvold said the inventor of Dippin' Dots is a scientist who normally works with frozen bull semen. Maybe that's why I never cared for Dippin' Dots.
Myrhvold said in talking about sous vide that botulism in general does not pose much of a real threat, unless, according to him, you eat beached whale. He did nonetheless say that it is important not to get botulism.
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6 Comments:
Based on Achatz's emphasis on evaluation and Myhrvold's emphasis on forward-thinking, another name for the molecular gastronomy movement could be "the empirical culinary arts movement."
The name implies a desire to make cuisine reducible to it's observable chemical elements, but doesn't completely reduce the goal of the movement to pure scientific method.
The "art," which implies the value of creativity and beauty, is still a term in the equation.
Susquehanna at 1:49PM on 11/02/08
I've said it before and I'll say it again: Molecular Gastronomy sticks because it sounds kind of cool, and because nobody's offered a name that's catchier. "Technoemotional" does, indeed, sound way too much like music, and while it may be accurate, catchy it ain't. And "modernist" doesn't actually tell you much about it, and eventually the stuff will be outdated and no longer modern.
Personally, I like the name Molecular Gastronomy, even if it is inaccurate.
thepictsie at 4:20PM on 11/02/08
Here's a link to the talk in MP3 form:
http://media.nypl.org/live/achatz_10_29_08.mp3
kathryn at 5:33PM on 11/02/08
If you name it from the point of view of the eater rather than the method of creation, maybe something like "Experiential Cuisine" because it's abou the experience of eating rather than the taste and it's certainly not about filling your gut.
dbcurrie at 11:24PM on 11/02/08
A great recap of the night. I wish that they were allowed to linger on some of the questions because I feel as though they had so much more to say about everything.
Also, there was a quote by Michael Pollan that was taken out of context that I wish they could have spoken about in context about eating foods one's grandmother cout recognize. That guideline by Pollan seems more trouble than it's worth because I've heard many people take it out of context.
If anyone is interested, here are some of my pictures from the night, and my own recap:
http://josephbayot.blogspot.com/2008/10/achatz-and-myhrvold-with-hint-of-reichl.html
Joseph Bayot at 5:05AM on 11/03/08
I just love it when chefs have a problem with nonmenclature that the public uses about their food. Would you like it better if we said "Oh, snap, I want to go to that restaurant, but I'm afraid my friends won't think I'm cool if I call it MG. What do they call it now...? Oh heck, I'll suggest we go for sushi instead!"
Be happy we show up, especially in this economy.
Jose Andres (Minibar here in DC) has a similar attitude, and while I respect him, it's a great way to alienate your customers when you start wanting to control to that extent.
Tonecat at 9:42PM on 11/03/08