Taste

Christine Schauflinger's Strudel

Tue, 23 Sep 2025 14:16:00 GMT

A moment of paper-thin, doughy zen from strudel queen Christine Schauflinger, chef and owner of Gasthaus Theuerwang.

On Food, Authenticity, and Culture

Fri, 12 Oct 2018 00:00:00 GMT

Romy Gill is the self-taught chef and owner of Romy’s Kitchen, a Punjabi/Bengali Indian restaurant in Bristol where she combines ingredients and techniques from her Indian heritage with those of her home country, the United Kingdom. Gill has been awarded with the title Member of the Most Excellent Order by the British Queen for her outstanding service to British and Indian food.

Side by side on stage with the MAD Dispatches Editor, Chris Ying, Romy introduces us to her story. Romy and Chris break down what authenticity means, and discuss what it means to take a cultural artifact out of its original locality, or in other words: the significance of exploring Indian cuisine in a British context.

Vivre la Cuisine

Thu, 21 Sep 2017 00:00:00 GMT

Michel Bras is one of the most iconic chefs that have ever lived.

He was born to a blacksmith–father and chef–mother in Gabriac in 1946. He schooled in a nearby town and from an early age started helping his mother tend her pots at the family’s hotel/restaurant, Lou Mazuc. Bras credits his mother with introducing him to the cuisine of Aubrac — the region of his birth and upbringing.

Michel never left the Lou Mazuc kitchen to train elsewhere, he studied culinary literature, philosophy and photography in his spare time and cooked from intuition – as he continues to do today. At thirty-three, he took over the inn from his parents and his innovative cooking led to Lou Mazuc winning two Michelin stars.

He continued here until 1992 when he opened the hotel/restaurant Michel Bras. It is an ultra-modern structure nearly all of glass with slate and granite, which sits on a plateau overlooking the landscape of Aubrac. In 1999, he was awarded three Michelin stars.

Michel has published several books under his name, including the seminal 2002 cookbook Essential Cuisine (which he took all the photos for himself). He also opened an eponymous restaurant in the Windsor Hotel Toya in Hokkaido, Japan in 2002.

Insects & Plants Together for Life

Thu, 21 Sep 2017 00:00:00 GMT

Alex Atala began his career at 19 in Belgium, at the École Hôtelière de Namur. He went on to work at Jean-Pierre Bruneau’s 3-star Michelin restaurant there before moving to France and the Hotel de la Cote d'Or with Bernard Loiseau. Stints in Montpellier and Milan followed before returning to São Paulo in 1994.

His work at several restaurants around the city immediately attracted the attention of media and customers. By the end of 1999, he opened D.O.M.restaurant, where he was one of the first to use indigenous and Amazonian produce in a fine-dining setting.

Alex went on to publish Por uma Gastronomia Brasileira, a two-volume cookbook of recipes and documentary photographs featuring native Brazilian ingredients.

In April 2011, D.O.M. was rated the 7th best restaurant in the world in the S.Pellegrino World's 50 Best list whilst also winning the title of ‘Aqua Panna Best Restaurant In South America.’ In 2009, Alex opened his second restaurant, Dalva e Dito, to critical acclaim.

Fäviken: How We Do Things

Tue, 07 Apr 2015 00:00:00 GMT

Magnus Nilsson is the chef of Fäviken Magasinet in northern Sweden and one of the world’s most exciting young chefs.

Raised not far from the restaurant, the young Magnus loved marine biology and cooking. Eventually choosing to pursue the latter, he attended a local cooking school before joining Pontus in the Greenhouse as a pastry chef. At twenty however, he left Sweden for France and an internship at the then-new l’Astrance. After this, he spent a short time at l’Arpege before returning to Sweden. By Christmas 2003, he was in Paris again and back at l’Astrance, where he went on to spend three years.

Once back in Stockholm, he had begun to lose interest in cooking and enrolled in an oenology course. In 2006, Magnus actually arrived at Fäviken, aged twenty-four, not having cooked in two years and intending to be the restaurant’s sommelier.

When the incumbent chef left in 2008, Magnus was left the sole employee and therefore decided to run both kitchen and front of house. He hasn’t looked back since.

Food Microbiology: An Overlooked Frontier

Tue, 07 Apr 2015 00:00:00 GMT

David Chang is chef/owner of the Momofuku restaurant group, which includes Momofuku Noodle Bar, Momofuku Ssäm Bar, Má Pêche, Milk Bar, Momofuku Ko all in NYC and Momofuku Seiōbo in Sydney, Australia. Since 2009, Ko has held two Michelin stars.

After graduating from Trinity College, where he majored in religious studies, David pursued a variety of jobs, including teaching English in Japan, bussing tables and finance positions. He worked at Mercer Kitchen then at Tom Colicchio's Craft for two years before returning to Japan and a small soba shop, followed by a restaurant in Tokyo's Park Hyatt. Once back in America, he joined Café Boulud.

In 2004, he opened his first Momofuku restaurant, Noodle Bar, in the East Village and Momofuku has been growing ever since.

A Short History of the Beet

Tue, 07 Apr 2015 00:00:00 GMT

Daniel Patterson is an American chef, restaurateur and food writer; he is also considered a leading proponent of California cuisine.

A self-taught chef, hee began working as a restaurant dishwasher at age fourteen and attended Duke University before dropping out. In 1989 he moved to Sonoma, California with his then-partner, with whom he opened Babette's, a French-inspired restaurant in 1994. It closed in 1999 when the lease expired. The pair then launched Elisabeth Daniel together in 2000, before he moved to become head chef at Frission.

In 2006, Daniel opened Coi and went on to win two Michelin stars two years later. Two more critically-acclaimed restaurants have followed, across the Bay: Plum and Haven.

Daniel is also an avid writer about food, contributing to New York Times Magazine, Food & Wine Magazine and San Francisco Magazine.

Fulvio in Exile

Mon, 23 Feb 2015 00:00:00 GMT

Fulvio Pierangelini is an Italian chef who began cooking professionally in 1977. In 1980, he took over the dilapidated seafood restaurant Gambero Rosso, in San Vincenzo, Tuscany and turned it into one of the best restaurants in the country. He closed the business in 2008.

Be Careful What You Wish For

Mon, 23 Feb 2015 00:00:00 GMT

Chris Cosentino ran San Francisco’s Incanto for over a decade, where he cooked in the nose-to-tail style and earned high praise from critics nationwide. He has appeared on several television programs, including Top Chef Masters and Iron Chef America.

Be Afraid

Mon, 23 Feb 2015 00:00:00 GMT

Albert Adrià spent 23 years at elBulli, working pastry and overseeing innovation at the restaurant’s test kitchen. He left elBulli in 2008 and now has a growing stable of acclaimed restaurants in Barcelona, including Tickets and Pakta.

On Authenticity

Fri, 13 Feb 2015 00:00:00 GMT

Jonathan Gold was a Los Angeles local writing for the Los Angeles Times (previously LA Weekly and Gourmet). He was also the first food critic to win the Pulitzer Prize in criticism in 2007 and was a finalist again in 2011. He initially began writing the Counter Intelligence column for the L.A. Weekly in 1986, whilst writing about death metal and gangsta rap for Rolling Stone and Spin among other places.

The History of the Celebrity Chef

Sun, 30 Nov 2014 00:00:00 GMT

Paul Freedman has been a Professor of History at Yale University since 1997, where one of his areas of focus is the history of cuisine. In 2007, he edited Food: The History of Taste, an illustrated collection of essays about food from prehistoric to contemporary times.

At MAD 4, the professor traces the history of celebrity chefs, as well as of cooking and restaurants, from the Middle Ages to the present day.

How the Flavors of the World Came Together in Brittany

Thu, 27 Nov 2014 00:00:00 GMT

Olivier Roellinger is a Breton chef who opened the restaurant Maisons de Bricourt in 1982. He became known for a style of cooking heavily influenced by the spice trade, drawing from cultures around the world. He earned three Michelin stars at the restaurant, which he gave back in 2008.

At MAD4, he told the story of his life and career and discussed the potential of today's chefs to make lasting change in cuisine, as well as society.

Does the Apple Fall Far From the Tree?

Thu, 27 Nov 2014 00:00:00 GMT

Madhur Jaffrey is a celebrated actress, television and radio presenter, and author. Born in Delhi, she developed a passion for Indian cuisine as a young drama student in London. Her books, which include An Invitation to Indian Cooking, have influenced cooks throughout the western world.

The Art of the Table

Thu, 27 Nov 2014 00:00:00 GMT

Silvano Giraldin is a front of house legend who for nearly four decades served as maître d’ and managing director of Le Gavroche, the first London restaurant to ever receive three Michelin stars. He is considered one of the godfathers of the art of the table.

At MAD4, he presented an informal reflection on what he sees as essential to a restaurant's success — educating the people that interact with the guests (by investing in them, sending them on educational trips), not hovering over diners ("the best service is the kind that you do not notice") — and explains all the changes, many of them welcome, that have taken place in dining over the past three decades.

Gut feelings - Love & Betrayal on the Plate

Tue, 08 Jul 2014 00:00:00 GMT

New York’s Jon Reiner reminds us that it actually takes guts to be vulnerable and consider your weaknesses. “When I went through the experience of not being able to eat for six months due to complications of my Crohn’s Disease, I wanted to tell people that I had finally seen the beauty of stoicism and discipline,” says the author of “The Man Who Couldn’t Eat,” in this presentation from MAD3. “But instead I saw that I was weak and that I hated my situation.” While sick, Reiner was unable to handle sitting at the table with his family as they ate and he couldn’t.

The ordeal made him realize what he truly loves about food: the human and emotional experience of sitting down at a table and sharing a meal with those you love.

Carne e Spirito

Tue, 17 Sep 2013 00:00:00 GMT

Descended from a long line of Italian butchers, Dario Cecchini runs a butchery, Antica Macelleria Cecchini, alongside three restaurants all in the small town of Panzano, Chianti. In this presentation from MAD3, Cecchini guts a pig and discusses the importance of craft, of love and of respecting the animals we consume.

Delineating the Edible and Inedible

Fri, 23 Nov 2012 00:00:00 GMT

Nordic Food Lab was a non-profit, self-governed gastronomic research institution, established in 2008 by the head chef of Noma, René Redzepi, and gastronomic entrepreneur Claus Meyer. Its purpose was to explore the building blocks of Nordic cuisine through traditional and modern gastronomies, and to share these results with chefs, academics, industry, and the public. From a houseboat in Copenhagen harbour, a group of professionals investigates old and new raw materials and techniques, developing knowledge and ideas for the Nordic region and the world.

After four years of joint operation of the Nordic Food Lab (NFL), the NFL’s Board of Directors will transfer the entire NFL to the Department of Food Science at the University of Copenhagen (UCPH FOOD). The self-governing NFL will close down, while its activities will continue as part of the Future Consumer Lab.

Passion & Prison

Fri, 23 Nov 2012 00:00:00 GMT

Rasmus Kofoed is a restaurateur, head chef and co-owner of Geranium (One Michelin Star Awarded in 2012, two in 2013, three in 2018) restaurant in Copenhagen. Rasmus won the gold medal in 2011, the silver medal in 2007 the bronze medal in 2005 at the biennial world chef championship Bocuse d’Or. He was the captain of the Danish culinary team for 7 years. Rasmus took part in many competitions and became Chef of the Year in 2003, he was the winner of the Nordic Championship in Stockholm in 2004. Winner of the Eurotoques 2004 prize, he won 1st prize in the Nordic Trophy for the Best Fish in 2005, and the Cordon Bleu in 2006, he again won the Eurotoques prize and the Desserts championship in 2006. Rasmus worked at Hotel D’Angleterre on Kongens Nytorv also at Kommandanten in Copenhagen and afterwards at the two-Michelin-star restaurant Scholteshof in Belgium. On his return to Copenhagen, he served as head chef at various top restaurants before opening his first restaurant. Rasmus is not only hungry for new challenges but also believes that thoughtfulness can be tasted. The experience that involves all our senses can be found in his restaurant.

An Appetite for Knowledge

Fri, 23 Nov 2012 00:00:00 GMT

Wylie Dufresne is the chef and owner of Du's Donuts and the former chef and owner of the wd~50 and Alder restaurants in Manhattan. Wylie Dufresne provides perhaps the single most convincing argument for the importance of culinary risk-taking in New York City. Over the last decade, Dufresne and his team have defied the odds, developing a body of unique work, fostering young talent and earning a Michelin star for the restaurant and a James Beard Award for the chef. The critic Frank Bruni once wrote of Dufresne’s methods, ‘he pushes hard against the envelope of possibility and the bounds of conformity to produce food that’s not only playful but also joyful and even exhilarating.’

In early 2013, Dufresne opened his second restaurant, Alder, in the East Village. It is the chef’s take on the traditional American public house.

Appetite? ... Ah. Hmm. Yes.

Fri, 23 Nov 2012 00:00:00 GMT

At MAD 2, Fergus Henderson and Trevor Gulliver engage in a conversation about appetite. Henderson is an English chef. Fergus has founded St John restaurant on St John Street in London that was awarded a Michelin star in 2009. Most of his dishes are derived from traditional British cuisine. Fergus is often noted for his use of offal and other neglected cuts of meat which is because of his philosophy of nose to tail eating. Gulliver is a restaurateur and Fergus´s business partner. Trevor created Wine Wharf and the Brew Wharf microbrewery and restaurant in Borough Market and built the Putney Bridge among other bars and restaurants. Trevor is a true lover of French wines and is often asked to judge food and wine around the world.

Do I Have an Appetite for Creativity?

Fri, 23 Nov 2012 00:00:00 GMT

In 1983, a 22-year-old Ferran Adrià took over the kitchen of the traditional French restaurant elBulli on the Spanish Costa Brava. In the ensuing three decades, the chef would transform the space into one of the most trailblazing and influential culinary destinations in the world, propelled by a philosophy that emphasised endless creativity, investigation and an open diffusion of the restaurant’s innovations.

elBulli retained three Michelin stars from 1997 until it closed in 2011. Together with Spanish telecom company Telefónica, Adrià turned the space into a foundation for culinary research without the constraints of a restaurant’s day-to-day operations. This venture, elBulli Foundation, opened in 2013 and more projects came along after that.

The Psychology Behind a Memorable Meal

Thu, 22 Nov 2012 00:00:00 GMT

Paul Rozin is one of the most influential psychologists and is currently a psychology professor at the University of Pennsylvania. Paul graduated at the University of Chicago where he earned bachelor´s degree and had the doctoral degrees in biology and psychology from Harvard University. He is a member of the Society of Experimental Psychologists, has twice been a fellow at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences, was a visiting Scholar for Phi Beta Kappa, and a Visiting Scholar for one year at the Russell Sage Foundation. He is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and a recipient of the American Psychological Association Distinguished Scientific Contribution Award for 2007. He was an editor of the journal, Appetite, for ten years.

Over the last decades, the primary focus of his research has been human food choice considered from biological, psychological and anthropological perspectives. During this period, he has studied the psychological significance of flavourings placed on foods in different cuisines, the cultural evolution of cuisine, the development of food aversions, the development of food preferences, family influences in preference development, body image, the acquisition of liking for chilli pepper, chocolate craving, and attitudes to meat.

The Taste of Wheat

Thu, 22 Nov 2012 00:00:00 GMT

Dan Barber is a chef and co-owner of the Blue Hill restaurants in New York City and Tarrytown, New York. He received a B.A. in English at the Tufts University in 1992 and later studied at the French Culinary Institute.

He was won numerous James Beard Awards, was named one of Time‘s most influential people in 2009, and his writings on food and agricultural policy have appeared in the New York Times, Gourmet, The Nation, Saveur, and Food & Wine. Barber was appointed by President Barack Obama to serve on the President’s Council on Physical Fitness, Sports and Nutrition. He is also a member of the Advisory Board to the Harvard Medical School Center for Health and The Global Environment.

Appetite as a Guide Between Nature and Culture

Thu, 22 Nov 2012 00:00:00 GMT

Massimo Montanari is one of the leading experts in Food History and Culture and plays an essential role in the popularization of scientific research to the general public. Massimo is currently professor of Medieval History at the University of Bologna in Italy. He has been invited as visiting professor to many leading universities in Europe, Japan, the United States, Mexico, and Canada. Massimo is a consultant and contributor to the publishing house Laterza. He was among the founders of the magazine “Food & History,” published by the Institut Européen d’Histoire et des Cultures de l’Alimentation (Tours), and was its director until 2008. He is a member of the Scientific Committee of the same IEHCA. In 1997 he founded, together with colleagues from other Italian universities, the “Centre of Studies on the history of the countryside and peasant labor,” based in Montalcino (Siena), of which he is the president. In 2001-2002 at the Faculty of Humanities, University of Bologna, opened a Master in History and culture of food (Storia e Cultura dell´Alimentazione), later transformed into a European Master, carried out in collaboration with the University of Tours (France), Barcelona (Spain) and Brussels (Belgium).

Asking the Winds of the Seasons

Thu, 22 Nov 2012 00:00:00 GMT

Shinichiro Takagi is one of Japan’s leading chefs with strong ties to his home region of Ishikawa. His highly acclaimed kaiseki restaurant is Zeniya, in Kanazawa, where he cooks meals in the traditional kaiseki style. There is no set menu at Zeniya. Shinichiro uses fresh ingredients and local fish in his restaurant. He thinks about the food in 12 seasons throughout the year. In this speech from MAD2, he talks about fierce adherence to seasonality. His interesting thinking certainly brings innovation to the international cuisine scene.