a Statment of Culinary Principles

What follows is a list of a number of principles I believe have come to define my thinking about cuisine, and the practice of a chef more specifically.   Note that this statement is by no means exhaustive, and for purposes of this statement their are many subjects that I have but touched upon.

Preliminary Principles:

1.       The chef’s goal, in its entirety, must be to glorify and bring pleasure to his Creator.

2.       The chef must be a perfectionist.  His ingredients must be of the highest quality, or otherwise best suited to his ends.  He must constantly refine his skills and repertoire in order to improve the dining experience he is able to offer.  The chef must be prepared to change any practice which proves to be compromise.  The chef must learn from his shortcomings.

3.       The chef must be prepared to go to whatever lengths necessary to ensure that his ideals are fulfilled as closely as possible.

4.       The chef must think outside the box in devising the means by which his ideals will be fulfilled.  He must recognize the need for science, technology, and collaboration with those within and without the strictly defined culinary sphere.

5.       While science and technology may play an increasing role in cuisine, they must still be considered only supplementary to taste and experience.

6.       The chef must maintain a well ordered restaurant.  He must recognize the necessity of both mise en place in the kitchen and a well choreographed service.  The respective tasks that need to be done simultaneously or according to a certain order of operations must be well coordinated.

7.       The chef must not compromise the safety of the diner.  Food must be prepared under sanitary conditions, and the products he uses must be safe and wholesome in the quantities they are served.

Developing the Dining Experience within a Multimedia Framework:

8.      A diner’s perception of a given experience will be depend a great deal upon the diner’s own reference points, along with a myriad of other factors, both physical and psychological.

9.   A dining experience that emotionally impacts the diner (sometimes referred to as the sixth sense) will be much more rich and memorable than a dining experience that merely impacts the diner at an intellectual and physical level.

10.    Although requisite that the diner be to some degree emotionally detached from events immediately preceding the dining experience, the chef may aim at evoking memories more deeply rooted within the diner.

11.    As dining is a multi-sensory experience, all five senses effect a diner’s perception of food.  Since the various areas of the human brain that process different forms of stimuli and pleasure are in fact neurologically connected, the chef  may purposefully induce and exploit environmental stimuli other than food itself in order to enhance the dining experience.  Certain external environmental stimuli may even require the active participation of the diner.

12.   In seeking to understand the relationship between the dining experience and human perception, the chef may look to such fields as neurology and physiology.   The knowledge attained by studies of human flavor preferences and human behavioral patterns in the area of eating can be particularly enlightening to the chef.

13.   Fine dining can provide a form of pleasure that transcends pleasure derived from the physical satisfaction of the appetite.  Standards of culinary aesthetic evaluation have traditionally recognized, although not necessarily articulated as such, an appreciation of a good balance of flavors, textures, and colors, as well as an appreciation of novelty, especially regarding foods associated with luxury.  Of course, eating cannot be completely removed from its functional, utilitarian, purpose.

14.   When a chef serves a dish which challenges (in a constructive manner) the preconceptions of a diner who is well informed of existing  standards of culinary aesthetic evaluation, he provides the diner with one of the highest forms of intellectual stimulation.  His work may thereby be compared with that of artists in other fields.

The Development of Cuisine:

15.   The chef must look beyond immediate trends within the culinary sphere in order to set the future direction of creative cuisine.

16.   A chef may adapt existing dishes, emphasizing particular qualities or characteristics of those dishes, or develop new dishes, through any number of creative models.  Nature can also be a rich source of inspiration for new dishes.  The chef should place special emphasis on the creative developmental process in general.

17.   Culinary heritages that have historically been devoted to gastronomy are a rich source of inspiration for the chef today.  It is not enough for the chef to explore only the range of culinary possibilities offered within his own cultural framework.  The chef must collaborate with those with expertise in food cultures other than his own.

18.   The chef must not restrict himself to developing dishes that fit neatly within traditional categorization, in particular, the traditional sweet-savory distinctions; although the chef must still be aware of the role these categorizations play.

19.   New ingredients, transformation processes, and even service methodologies can be a source of inspiration for new dishes to a limited extent if such fit within his overarching ideals.

The Attainment of Defined Ideals:

20.   No preparation should be considered above reexamination and scientific inquiry, no matter how traditional or pervasive.  The chef must not simply believe culinary dictums that have been perpetrated without adequate verification; they often prove false.

21.   A scientific understanding of the composition of ingredients, whether natural or processed, simple or complex, and how characteristics of ingredients may be modified by various processes, or methods of combining with other ingredients, enable the chef to decide what ingredients, processes, or combination methods to use to reach the desired result.

22.   The use of highly precise measurement devices, whether they measure temperature, mass, ph, brix, or some other quality, enable the chef to accurately monitor processes that produce changes that can be quantified by such instruments.

23.   The expanding array of equipment available to the chef offers many options for fulfilling both existing and new functions.  The chef must learn to utilize, both equipment that is capable of transforming ingredients in new ways, and equipment capable of fulfilling existing purposes more accurately and effectively.