Colour
Architecture on a Plate
Wednesday, 03 June 2009
Posted by Niki Fulton at 17:53 PM in Colour
I arrive at Martin Wishart's Edinburgh restaurant at 8:30 in the morning amidst a hive of activity. The windows are being polished, the front of house staff are in meetings discussing the day's menus and a team of chefs are already prepping in the kitchen. Martin, whom I am here to interview, sweeps in and leads me at break neck speed to his office.
After reading his book, "Cook Book" by Martin Wishart I was struck by the use of language in it. The book could have been describing a lavish interior by Kelly Hoppen or a landmark building by Norman Foster and I became intrigued to discover if a Michelin Chef does indeed think in a similar way to leading designers and architects. You only need to look at the photograph above of Orkney Ham and fois gras with beet-root tuiles to see a similarity with architecture - a post modern building if ever I saw one! The photograph is to be published in a book called Coco which will be launched later this year in New York. Phaidon have asked ten top chefs to each nominate ten “top chefs of tomorrow”. Martin is delighted to have been nominated by Gordon Ramsay.
I was interested in his use of colour when designing a menu. Martin becomes really animated while describing lobsters with their bright red shells contrasting with their pearly flesh and tells me he loves to serve this with green spring vegetables. I understand at this point that colour obviously plays an important role as he describes shelling peas from their pods and then peeling each pea individually to remove their tiny skin, " this way, you get a magnificent vivid green!" He also talks of grilled mackerel, salad of roasted beet-root and organic leaves making a "simple and yet satisfying dish of contrasting colours and flavours". You will also see photographs in his book with bolts of colour (shards of beet-root stems) punctuating the top of exquisitely arranged food - just as a designer would use an accent of colour.
Another similarity to the design world is his use of textures, displayed perfectly by his crispy oyster beignets. The crisp beignet (a fresh yeast batter) coats the outside of the creamy oyster creating a superb contrast. He goes on with more "interior" language, using words like "neat rows, oblique angles, and piping" when arranging the food on a white porcelain plate. In fact his staff talk of a plate being "a blank canvas on which he can create". He talks of desserts "harmonising what has gone before", exactly as a designer would do to achieve the perfect flow around a house.
He does however stress that although colour and texture play an important role, taste is the ultimate goal. I am sure architects would agree that the "taste" (impact) of a building is the ultimate goal and individual elements should never over power this although they are an integral part of the design process.
He also speaks of his love for local, seasonal ingredients and colour therefore changes naturally throughout the year. This basic love of using the best raw materials is obviously what inspires Martin. When I asked him where his most memorable meal was he smiles and says, "on a beach in Puerto Escondido, Mexico". He tells me it was his first trip to Mexico with his wife and he had come straight from a high pressure kitchen environment. They ambled up to a beach hut where a local Mexican lady cooked them red snapper, smashed open two coconuts and filled them with salsa and they sat on the warm sand looking at the turquoise water eating the freshest, most simply cooked food imaginable. "It’s what food is all about, fresh, local and full of flavour" says Martin.
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