The Culinary Institute of America (CIA) calls its annual
conference in Napa Valley “Worlds of Flavor.”
Last weekend, I joined some 700 food and
beverage professionals (chefs, restaurateurs, sommeliers, manufacturers, food
service operators, caterers and food and wine journalists among them) to
explore the developing trends that will impact the way we eat in the years to
come.
“Frontiers of Food: World Street Food, World Comfort Food”
was an in-depth look at the “casualization” of the fine-dining scene, and the
growing variety of international flavors in fast food operations and volume
food service. “Americans
increasingly want a whole world of new flavors, from Asian to Latin and
Mediterranean, within easy reach, on a 24/7 basis,” said Greg Drescher,
executive director of strategic initiatives for the CIA. Indeed, one need look no farther than a
taco truck in L.A., a Bahn Mi wagon in New York City, a dumpling kiosk at DFW,
or the long lines of students jockeying for space at Harvard University's do-it-yourself
stir fry stations to understand the phenomenon.
Founded in 1946, the CIA is considered the top culinary
school in the country. The original campus in Hyde Park, NY is now joined by
facilities in St. Helena, Napa Valley and San Antonio, Texas. "Worlds of Flavor"
takes place at the sprawling Greystone Napa Valley estate.
This year the imposing stone mansion housed a highly
animated marketplace of hawker chefs from Singapore, street food vendors from
Delhi and Mexico City, and faithful facsimiles of Spanish tapas bars, Bangkok
market stalls, and the meze hot spots of Greece and Turkey.
The Opening Night General Session featured Rick Bayless of
Frontera Grill and Topolobampo (Chicago) fame narrating a video of his daughter and himself at their
favorite taco stand in Mexico City; witty Turkish master chef Musa Dagdeviren cooking lamb over open
fire behind the main Greystone building; cookbook author Paula Wolfert making
the paper-thin Moroccan crepes known as warka using a hot pan and a paintbrush;
and Paul Bartolotta of Wynn Las Vegas fame giving credit
to the grandmothers of Italy for his impressive career.
Opening Night (photo left) also featured the “World Marketplace,” a
two-hour graze-a-thon in Greystone’s historic Barrel Room, where participating
chefs from around the world served samples of their fare. Dozens of stations
offered the likes of white gazpacho, shrimp ceviche with local popcorn, fresh mozzarella from Apulia and lahmacun,
a Turkish fried bread topped with minced lamb, vegetables and lemon juice.
This year’s conference included almost 40 seminars covering
everything from “Hot, Sweet. Sour, Salty: Balancing Flavor in the South Asian
Kitchen” to “Fresh From Barcelona:
Tapas, Cava and the Flavors of Catalonia.” In addition, more than 25 Kitchen
Workshops were held in the massive CIA kitchen. There Roy Choi, of Los Angeles’
Kogi BBQ fame, taught the fine points of Korean barbecue and Suvir Saran, creator of
Michelin-starred Devi in New York City, shared insights on "Mastering the Indian
Tandoor."
As a lover of street food, I was fascinated to hear masters
of that art from Singapore and Delhi, Mexico City and Bangkok. Rick Bayless,
who moderated a session called “World Street Food, World Comfort Food: What We
Want to Eat Now,” talked of the challenges involved in incorporating street
food into the American landscape without sacrificing the authenticity of the
experience. “What I love about street food is its thrilling immediacy,” said
Bayless, a thought echoed later in the evening by former Gourmet editor Ruth
Reichl who spoke of the appeal of getting food straight from the hands of the
person who prepared it.
Suvir Saran told a charming story
about the man who sells “the best chaat in Delhi,” explaining that the guy
parks his rolls Royce next to his cart each day. He doesn’t sell chaat for the
money, Saran says, because he doesn’t need the money. He does if because he
wants to make the best chaat possible.
It’s impossible to wrap up the three-day “Worlds of Flavor
Conference” in one tidy blog post. But in coming days, I’ll share some of the
insights, techniques and recipes I learned while attending the Seminars
and Kitchen Workshops.
Teaser: What country gets credit for the variety of elegant
desserts available in Thailand and Thai restaurants around the world today?
Comments