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Mariza - Oiça lá ó Sr. Vinho

Oiça lá ó senhor vinho,
vai responder-me, mas com franqueza:
porque é que tira toda a firmeza
a quem encontra no seu caminho?

Lá por beber um copinho a mais
até pessoas pacatas,
amigo vinho, em desalinho
vossa mercê faz andar de gatas!

É mau procedimento
e há intenção naquilo que faz.
Entra-se em desequilíbrio,
não há equilíbrio que seja capaz.

As leis da Física falham
e a vertical de qualquer lugar
oscila sem se deter
e deixa de ser perpendicular.

"Eu já fui", responde o vinho,
"A folha solta brincara ao vento,
fui raio de sol no firmamento
que trouxe a uva, doce carinho.

Ainda guardo o calor do sol
e assim eu até dou vida,
aumento o valor seja de quem for
na boa conta, peso e medida.

E só faço mal a quem
me julga ninguém
e faz pouco de mim.
Quem me trata como água
é ofensa, pago-a!
Eu cá sou assim."

Vossa mercê tem razão
e é ingratidão
falar mal do vinho.
E a provar o que digo
vamos, meu amigo,
a mais um copinho!

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LENDA DAS AMENDOEIRAS EM FLOR

Há muitos e muitos séculos, antes de Portugal existir e quando o Al-Gharb pertencia aos árabes, reinava em Chelb, a futura Silves, o famoso e jovem rei Ibn-Almundim que nunca tinha conhecido uma derrota. Um dia, entre os prisioneiros de uma batalha, viu a linda Gilda, uma princesa loira de olhos azuis e porte altivo. Impressionado, o rei mouro deu-lhe a liberdade, conquistou-lhe progressivamente a confiança e um dia confessou-lhe o seu amor e pediu-lhe para ser sua mulher. Foram felizes durante algum tempo, mas um dia a bela princesa do Norte caiu doente sem razão aparente. Um velho cativo das terras do Norte pediu para ser recebido pelo desesperado rei e revelou-lhe que a princesa sofria de nostalgia da neve do seu país distante. A solução estava ao alcance do rei mouro, pois bastaria mandar plantar por todo o seu reino muitas amendoeiras que quando florissem as suas brancas flores dariam à princesa a ilusão da neve e ela ficaria curada da sua saudade. Na Primavera seguinte, o rei levou Gilda à janela do terraço do castelo e a princesa sentiu que as suas forças regressavam ao ver aquela visão indiscritível das flores brancas que se estendiam sob o seu olhar. O rei mouro e a princesa viveram longos anos de um intenso amor esperando ansiosos, ano após ano, a Primavera que trazia o maravilhoso espectáculo das amendoeiras em flor. (aqui)

BBC- Food programmes

Food programmes

tvlicious!

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Statement on the 'new cookery'

Back on track às aulas... e o ano começou com Gastronomia molecular.

Eis um artigo referenciado na aula de hoje que data 10 de Dezembro de 2006, mas que continua a ser pertinente nos dias de hoje!

Below is the international agenda for great cooking written by Ferran Adria of El Bulli, Heston Blumenthal of the Fat Duck, Thomas Keller of the French Laundry and Per Se, and writer Harold McGee

The world of food has changed a great deal in modern times. Change has come especially fast over the last decade. Along with many other developments, a new approach to cooking has emerged in restaurants around the globe, including our own. We feel that this approach has been widely misunderstood, both outside and inside our profession. Certain aspects of it are overemphasized and sensationalized, while others are ignored. We believe that this is an important time in the history of cooking, and wish to clarify the principles and thoughts that actually guide us. We hope that this statement will be useful to all people with an interest in food, but especially to our younger colleagues, the new generations of food professionals.

1. Three basic principles guide our cooking: excellence, openness, and integrity.

We are motivated above all by an aspiration to excellence. We wish to work with ingredients of the finest quality, and to realize the full potential of the food we choose to prepare, whether it is a single shot of espresso or a multicourse tasting menu.

We believe that today and in the future, a commitment to excellence requires openness to all resources that can help us give pleasure and meaning to people through the medium of food. In the past, cooks and their dishes were constrained by many factors: the limited availability of ingredients and ways of transforming them, limited understanding of cooking processes, and the necessarily narrow definitions and expectations embodied in local tradition. Today there are many fewer constraints, and tremendous potential for the progress of our craft. We can choose from the entire planet's ingredients, cooking methods, and traditions, and draw on all of human knowledge, to explore what it is possible to do with food and the experience of eating. This is not a new idea, but a new opportunity. Nearly two centuries ago, Brillat-Savarin wrote that 'the discovery of a new dish does more for human happiness than the discovery of a new star."

Paramount in everything we do is integrity. Our beliefs and commitments are sincere and do not follow the latest trend.

2. Our cooking values tradition, builds on it, and along with tradition is part of the ongoing evolution of our craft.

The world's culinary traditions are collective, cumulative inventions, a heritage created by hundreds of generations of cooks. Tradition is the base which all cooks who aspire to excellence must know and master. Our open approach builds on the best that tradition has to offer.

As with everything in life, our craft evolves, and has done so from the moment when man first realized the powers of fire. We embrace this natural process of evolution and aspire to influence it. We respect our rich history and at the same time attempt to play a small part in the history of tomorrow.

3. We embrace innovation - new ingredients, techniques, appliances, information, and ideas - whenever it can make a real contribution to our cooking.

We do not pursue novelty for its own sake. We may use modern thickeners, sugar substitutes, enzymes, liquid nitrogen, sous-vide, dehydration, and other nontraditional means, but these do not define our cooking. They are a few of the many tools that we are fortunate to have available as we strive to make delicious and stimulating dishes.

Similarly, the disciplines of food chemistry and food technology are valuable sources of information and ideas for all cooks. Even the most straightforward traditional preparation can be strengthened by an understanding of its ingredients and methods, and chemists have been helping cooks for hundreds of years. The fashionable term "molecular gastronomy" was introduced relatively recently, in 1992, to name a particular academic workshop for scientists and chefs on the basic food chemistry of traditional dishes. That workshop did not influence our approach, and the term "molecular gastronomy" does not describe our cooking, or indeed any style of cooking.

4. We believe that cooking can affect people in profound ways, and that a spirit of collaboration and sharing is essential to true progress in developing this potential.

The act of eating engages all the senses as well as the mind. Preparing and serving food could therefore be the most complex and comprehensive of the performing arts. To explore the full expressive potential of food and cooking, we collaborate with scientists, from food chemists to psychologists, with artisans and artists (from all walks of the performing arts), architects, designers, industrial engineers. We also believe in the importance of collaboration and generosity among cooks: a readiness to share ideas and information, together with full acknowledgment of those who invent new techniques and dishes. (aqui)

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the boiled egg - heston blumenthal

a foodie nerd joke :)

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A series of photographs documenting former Death Row prisoners requests for their last meal before execution.

images © james reynolds

An extraordinary work by London based designer James Reynolds.

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Labirinto do Atum - DOC (Trailer)

«O Labirinto do Atum" tem como principal ingrediente o Atum e a sua história ao longo dos séculos ao longo da costa algarvia e andaluza, sendo a sua captura uma das artes de pesca mais antigas e difundidas nos países mediterrânicos. O documentário começa com uma conversa ao almoço entre três grandes conhecedores desta História (um historiador, um empresário e um director fabril), o ponto de partida para uma viagem por antigos e recentes complexos de pesca e indústria do atum no sul de Portugal e Espanha. A obra contou com o importante apoio das autarquias de Vila Real St.º António e Tavira; e das Direcções Regionais da Cultura e da Agricultura e Pescas no Algarve.

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3D food printer

fab@home machines have already been used
to print chocolates, cookies, and even domes of turkey meat.
while previous models have typically used only one syringe,
the cornell team is now working with them in multiple,
to permit the combination of diverse ingredients in precise proportions.

currently, only liquids and gels can be used as cartridges,
and the researchers have already experimented
with cheese, cake batter, chocolate, and dough.
promisingly, current research that involves mixing raw foods
with hydrocolloids, creating a gel,
may soon expand the repertoire of foods that can be used in the machine.

on a broad scale, the device would not only
increase the ease and availability of healthful food
to individuals who are unable or unwilling to cook for themselves,
but also produce a number of ecologically beneficial effects,
as it decreases the number of intermediaries involved
between food production and ultimate consumption.
some researchers wonder if one day,
3D printers would even permit the 'growing' of near-raw foodstuffs.

(learn more)

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