(MENAFN- Khaleej Times) Celebrity chef Tyler Florence talks about the everyday kitchen gadgets of tomorrow and creating the fronion
If you think of Tyler Florence as the cook next door the guy you can count on for classics like burgers and onion rings you may be surprised by his latest effort Tyler Florence: Inside the Test Kitchen.
This time Florence is switching things up from down home to high tech in a book that stands out from the crowd with its notebook-style binding and iPad-generated photos. The burger It’s still there but now it’s served on “instant bread” buns made with iSi siphons specialty kitchen equipment that in this case are used to inject carbon dioxide directly into the batter. The onion ring meanwhile has mind-melded with a french fry for something Florence calls a “fronion.”
We asked Florence to explain just what a fronion is and share a few more insights into his test kitchen.
You’re known for traditional comfort food but in this book you whip out the high-tech tools. Is this a new direction for you
I’ve always been a passionate wildly curious cook. The platforms that you have seen me in before are just the tip of the iceberg of my range not only as a cook but as an award-winning restaurant owner an inventor a cookbook writer and also a parent. My early career crafted as the guy next door is only part of the picture one that is very black and white in scope. Our new position is to go deep and challenge conventional cooking that in a lot of ways intimidates home enthusiasts. Inventing a bread that doesn’t require yeast to rise was one of our discoveries this year and the process is way easier than baking bread. Modern kitchen tools like an iSi siphon are going to seem as common place as a microwave.
What went into the making of this book
We had four people working on the book almost full time and the book took a year and a half to make. So if I had to do the math on that it would be 13140 hours. It was supposed to be released last year but we just weren’t ready yet. I’ve never spent this long writing a book even my first book back in 2001. The content speaks for itself. I feel it’s my best most personal book.
Was it tough reinventing so many familiar dishes
Some days we wanted to give up because what we wanted in a certain recipe began to feel impossible. Or going through the complete cooking process which in some cases took hours only to find out we could have made it better at the beginning felt frustrating. But every time we got so close to nailing a certain texture or technique that we were inventing it was enough to keep pushing. I’ve never had a better time with my staff making something that felt this important.
You really went all out on Thanksgiving from the cranberry loaf to the spatchcocked turkey with the stuffing tucked under the skin. What inspired you
The funny thing is that entire chapter was a last minute add-in. We felt that looking at most of the completed manuscript we needed about 10 more great iconic recipes. It happened to be last November so we just jumped into Thanksgiving. My Instagram feed blew up as we were posting pictures. If someone picks up the book for one recipe alone it’s the turkey. I think it’s a real game changer.
And finally the “fronion.” Talk us through the team’s process in solving the french fry/onion ring dilemma by coming up with an onion ring inside a french fry.
We made onion rings for a week. They were ... I wouldn’t say boring but everything we had certainly tasted before. One day we got take out lunch from a burger place and I grabbed a french fry and an onion ring and tasted both and that started it all. We liquefied french fries into an amazing onion ring batter and created the “fronion” it’s a French fry crusted onion ring. You’ve got to see it to believe it. Mind blowing.