Gastronomique

Cooking as an art has seen a popularity explosion in America over the last 15 years. From dedicated cooking channels to reality cooking shows, from the Slow Food Movement and backlash against the fast food industry to boom in organic/fresh grocers like Whole Foods. Cooking has and continues to be an activity where I find peace. To focus on creating something exquisite and present it for others to savor is not only rewarding but meditative. I must own 50 cookbooks on various cooking subjects and recipes but it is Thomas Keller's French Laundry Cookbook that inspires the name of this blog.

Rather then the typical organized listing of recipes, Keller entitles many of his chapters "The Importance of ___". From building good relationships with specialty vendors, to big pot blanching, to the importance of staff dinner, each chapter helps the reader understand why professional cooking is a holistic approach to both people and ingredients. I find Keller's philosophies and passions apply to so much of life outside of cooking that I hope this blog will serve as my personal interpretation of this idea in software, society, and the Bay Area.