WG MAGAZINE
I believe that food should not be over complicated in terms of flavour, I generally like to work with 3 to 4 key flavours one of which being the star and build the complexity by enhancing the natural flavours and displaying different techniques with the same animal or ingredient.
Your culinary philosophy, the process of creating a dish, the inspiration…
My culinary philosophy goes far deeper than just good food. When we create a dish using beef for example, we consider that this animal has made the ultimate sacrifice with its life, the very least we can do is show this animal respect. We must use all of our creativity and skill to utilize as much of the animal as possible, I am sincerely heartbroken by wastefulness. We must be mindful of nature and protect this earth which has given us everything that we have and protect this for future generations, I don’t like the use of pesticides, and we only use sustainable seafood in the restaurant.
Then I like to consider texture; food should not only be interesting in flavour but also mouth feel, crispy textures, soft textures etc, it is also sometimes interesting to use temperature variations, pairing the very hot with the very cold for example. Once I am happy with the balance of flavour and texture I would then consider the presentation, presentation serves as a first impression therefore the dish must be visually appealing. The presentation should not be over complicated and should spark intrigue.
“I believe that food should not be over complicated in terms of flavour”
Inspiration can come from anywhere really and creativity I believe is only limited by our own imaginations, one of my personal favourite dishes was inspired by looking down at the floor of the forest whilst foraging for wild mushrooms in the Pembrokeshire countryside, I looked down at the mist engulfed floor around me, took a deep breath of the scent of pine which surrounded us, listened to the sound of goats in the background and said to my friend that I would create a dish representing everything that I felt in that moment! I am largely inspired by the ingredients, each ingredient is art in itself, varied in colour, texture, shape, largely influenced by nature and try to use the ingredients to represent their natural habitat or form, if I have foraged mushrooms from a misty forest, I will try to imitate the misty forest on the plate or if I have paired foie gras with cherry, I bring the ingredients together to imitate the cherry. I believe it is very exciting to receive a dish and see just one cherry only to cut into and find a rich foie gras parfait hidden or a seafood dish, using bright colours and abstract textures to create a dish which resembles a coral reef, especially living in Hong Kong where many become detached from nature, I believe it is important to bring a taste of nature into urban life.
ALIBI - WINE DINE SOCIAL
WG September 2018 -
89