Oct. 31, 2013
Conversation with Massimo Bottura, hailed as the greatest chef in Italy today, requires no small amount of concentration and focus.
There is a kinetic, almost frenetic energy in his dialogue that challenges the listener to follow along as he references French philosopher Roland Barthes, jazz player Thelonious Monk, Alaskan skies, and squid ink during a discussion about food and art -- all in that order.
Bottura was at the Palais des Beaux-Arts in Paris to help inaugurate an exhibit about art and the culinary process which debuted in October. His contribution to the show, a multimedia piece entitled “Tutte le lingue del mondo,” plays on the notion of lingue -- which means both tongue and language in Italian -- with a plate of cow’s tongue.
It’s an exhibit that places food and chefs on the same plane as contemporary art and offers visitors a glimpse into the creative process of culinary masters like Ferran Adrià, Alain Passard and Bottura.
For the Modena chef, whose restaurant Osteria Francescana is ranked third on the World’s 50 Best Restaurants list, everything from literature, music and landscapes can be distilled into a single plate.
“Inspiration comes from everywhere,” he said during a tour of the exhibit. “If you walk with your eyes open, you can imagine anything.”
Read more at https://sg.news.yahoo.com/inside-culinary-mind-italys-greatest-chef-211909502.html
