The shift in power from front-of-house to kitchen, and the huge interest in chefs and their dishes from the media, has also allowed many chefs to become more creative Left: the late Italian chef Gualtiero Marchesi’s “Fish Dripping”, inspired by the works of Jackson Pollock; above: Massimo Bottura took his cues from the Manhattan skyline for his veal dish bollito non bollito – Italian for “boiled, not boiled” his stark, textural signature dish of milk skin, its surface slashed at the table to reveal the black truffle within, comes from artist Lucio Fontana, the founder of Spatialism: in particular, Fontana’s technique of slashing canvases with a scalpel. The most eye-catching artistic technique that many of today’s top chefs employ is trompe l’oeil. Dating back to classical times, revived during the Renaissance and literally meaning “deceive the eye”, the idea of trompe l’oeil spans fine art, murals and architecture, playing in particular with the viewer’s perception of perspective. In culinary terms, the deception is revealed on the palate. The “salmon eggs”, for example, served in a caviar tin at El Bulli, were actually cantaloupe melon juice, “spherified” with sodium alginate and calcium chloride. Or the emblematic “meat fruit” served at Dinner by Heston Blumenthal: a mandarin that looks as though it has just been plucked from the tree, but in reality a jelly filled with chickenliver parfait. But it is chef Andoni Luis Aduriz whose trompe l’oeil creations most constantly astound. The celebrated Basque chef and owner of Mugaritz has published several scientific papers outlining the various techniques involved in, say, his baked potatoes masquerading as pebbles, or his silk scarf made from squid and flowers, or a foaming bar of soap made from oats, rice and honey, or beef carpaccio made with watermelon. Aduriz even serves “mouldy” bread and fruit: how many three-star Michelin restaurants can do that and get away with it? Somewhere, Marinetti must be smiling. • PHOTOS FROM LEFT: MASSIMO BORCHI, PAOLO TERZI 78 CENTURION-MAGAZINE.COM
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