Told you so.
Europe's restaurant-guide bible has blasted the overuse of chemical additives in German restaurant fare and has threatened to lower the ratings of top chefs if they use too many additives in doing "molecular gastronomy".
The editor-in-chief of Gault Millau's German edition, Manfred Kohnke, launched his attack before his magazine chose Germany's "Chef of the Year".
The 69-year-old critic, who is known as Germany's "food pope", also called for food-additive labeling requirements to be extended to restaurant menus.
The additives in question are mainly gelling and thickening agents, which used to be limited to the food industry.
In molecular cuisine, these additives are used to stabilize airy foams, convert vegetables into a less perishable jelly or paste and form caviar-like bubbles from juices or oil.
"It's a shot across the bows," Kohnke says of his warning. "The chefs now have time until the next examination period. Then we'll mete out punishment to them."
Feared for his harsh criticism, Kohnke made an example of French chef Jean-Claude Bourgueil several years ago by downgrading him for using the flavor enhancer glutamate in his Dusseldorf restaurant.
Kohnke does not object to creative cooking and the invention of new dishes, but to the uncritical and excessive application of molecular gastronomy techniques.
One additive that Kohnke rejects is transglutaminase, a food adhesive used in the food industry to reconstitute pieces of ham into pressed ham.
German chef Joachim Wissler, who works in Bergisch Gladbach, near Cologne, uses it to stick overly thin trout filets on top of each other.
The use of artificial fragrance sprays is also a questionable practice, he says, adding, "Even in top restaurants they try to make dishes more seductive with artificial truffle fragrance."
It is strange how much money is earned with cheap chemicals when star chefs promote them, Kohnke remarks, adding: "And it's even stranger that the food industry now wants to steer them away from using chemicals in food or at least claims it does, but chefs are reaching for them greedily."
Kohnke says it is almost tragic that many chefs in Germany use additives because it is trendy, but do not improve the taste of their dishes as if the "future salvation lay in molecular cuisine".
The editor-in-chief of Gault Millau's German edition, Manfred Kohnke, launched his attack before his magazine chose Germany's "Chef of the Year".
The 69-year-old critic, who is known as Germany's "food pope", also called for food-additive labeling requirements to be extended to restaurant menus.
The additives in question are mainly gelling and thickening agents, which used to be limited to the food industry.
In molecular cuisine, these additives are used to stabilize airy foams, convert vegetables into a less perishable jelly or paste and form caviar-like bubbles from juices or oil.
"It's a shot across the bows," Kohnke says of his warning. "The chefs now have time until the next examination period. Then we'll mete out punishment to them."
Feared for his harsh criticism, Kohnke made an example of French chef Jean-Claude Bourgueil several years ago by downgrading him for using the flavor enhancer glutamate in his Dusseldorf restaurant.
Kohnke does not object to creative cooking and the invention of new dishes, but to the uncritical and excessive application of molecular gastronomy techniques.
One additive that Kohnke rejects is transglutaminase, a food adhesive used in the food industry to reconstitute pieces of ham into pressed ham.
German chef Joachim Wissler, who works in Bergisch Gladbach, near Cologne, uses it to stick overly thin trout filets on top of each other.
The use of artificial fragrance sprays is also a questionable practice, he says, adding, "Even in top restaurants they try to make dishes more seductive with artificial truffle fragrance."
It is strange how much money is earned with cheap chemicals when star chefs promote them, Kohnke remarks, adding: "And it's even stranger that the food industry now wants to steer them away from using chemicals in food or at least claims it does, but chefs are reaching for them greedily."
Kohnke says it is almost tragic that many chefs in Germany use additives because it is trendy, but do not improve the taste of their dishes as if the "future salvation lay in molecular cuisine".
posted by Jonathan at 10:06 AM
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