Anatoly Komm: "I don't have a kitchen at home"

2024 Author: James Gerald | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-01-12 17:37

Anatoly Komm is the only Russian chef to be featured in the famous Michelin Red Guide. He is the main master of molecular cuisine in Russia. Every day he gives amazing gastronomic performances in his restaurants, which he calls “gastronomic theaters”. “At the beginning of the performance, you will be brought a black loaf,” said Comm in an interview. - Above there will be such a twisted spiral. You put it in your mouth, the loaf will explode, and you will realize that you are eating black bread, sprinkled with butter and salted. Only the bread will be liquid. But the butter is crispy. Vinaigrette in the form of airy mousse, herring under a fur coat in the form of a roll and many other similar wonders - in fact, it is more of a theater than a restaurant. In September, in preparation for the Russian gastronomic seasons in Paris, the famous chef presented a culinary set for the sophisticated French public. Anatoly Komm told the Cleo correspondent about how he will surprise Parisians, what is better not to buy in Russian stores, and about his first dish in his life.

Blitz survey "Cleo":

- Are you friends with the Internet?

- Yes.

- What is an unacceptable luxury for you?

- There is everything you want. You have to limit yourself.

- Which animal do you associate yourself with?

- It's hard for me to associate myself with an animal.

- Did you have a nickname as a child?

- Advocate.

- Are you an owl or a lark?

- Lark.

- Do you have a talisman?

- No.

Gastronomic theater

Anatoly Anatolyevich, now is the Year of Russia in France and France in Russia, respectively. Do you think that gourmet and gastronomic relations between our countries also need to be strengthened?

Undoubtedly. We are pursuing this goal. Although I'm not sure that we will be able to improve relations between states, because we really want to prove to the French that their cuisine is not the best. And they, as you know, are very jealous of gastronomy issues. Therefore, it seems to me that the conflict is inevitable.

Already decided on the menu for the tour?

I will cook dishes that, on the one hand, are based on Russian traditions, and on the other hand, they are adapted to European and, in particular, French tastes. I am happy to have the opportunity to surprise the French audience. Because everyone expects from the Russians black caviar, mushrooms and balalaika - the whole world has been laughing at this for a long time.

I want to destroy the stereotype and prove to the world that our agriculture is well developed and fishermen catch fish. And the main thing is that this is really no worse than what is being done in Europe.

You call your restaurant a theater …

Yes, and this is normal, it is accepted all over the world.

Do clients leave maestro Anatoly Komm dissatisfied?

Often. But this is not because I cook bad food, but because people are used to eating, and I make them think at the same time. Visitors are perplexed why they are not brought a banal cucumber to vodka and, in general, where is their freshly squeezed juice. I always give the following analogy: people gathered in a nightclub, and accidentally got to the ballet. Of course, they will be perplexed, and everything will annoy them: the music is not like that, and alcohol is not brought.

In your restaurants, the waiter also acts as a guide to the world of molecular cuisine. How do visitors react?

Often negative. For our elite, a cook and a waiter are service personnel, people of the third class. It is sad, but this is how these professions are perceived in our country. Perhaps the restaurateurs are also to blame for this. Gastronomic culture must also be brought up from childhood, the ability to enjoy food, choose, understand tastes and shades. Our people still consider it a shame to ask the waiter for advice or admit that they have no idea what dish is hiding under this or that name, everyone is afraid to seem like suckers.

In Europe, it is normal when in gastronomic restaurants they talk about what and how to eat, the waiter and sommelier are your guides.

- Where did you spend your last vacation?

- There was no vacation as such for a long time. The rest follows from touring in other countries, on other continents. I'm on tour all over the world. I work with serious hotels, so they provide good conditions. Of course, I cook in the evening, but during the day I can swim and sunbathe.

- What turns you on?

- Food. She gives a lot of strong feelings. Books, music … Everything that makes you think, feel.

- How do you relieve stress?

- I have a really hard job. I like to lie on the beach more. You know, when you stand in the heat in the kitchen for 12 hours, somehow then you don't want to be active.

- What melody is on your mobile phone?

- Classical music.

- What is your psychological age?

- I don’t know, I didn’t think about it.

- What is your favorite aphorism?

- You are what you eat.

Chef without kitchen

How did it happen that a geophysicist by training, a person who was associated with the fashion industry suddenly put on an apron and became a cook?

Dovlatov has a wonderful phrase: "There are cases when it is not you who choose your profession, but the profession chooses you." All my life I did everything in order not to be a chef, but in the end I became one.

Can you remember your first meal?

Yes, I remember, I was 4 years old. I baked sour cream cookies. And despite my age, everything worked out for me.

Why did you choose molecular cuisine?

There is no molecular cuisine, there is the knowledge of modern chefs about their product at the molecular level.

When you go to a doctor, you want to hope that he knows your body at the molecular level, that he studied anatomy and physiology? Why, when you go to the chef, you do not want him to know the products in the same way?

This is logical. What do you cook at home?

I don’t cook at all at home, because I don’t have time for this.

But at least occasionally your loved ones are honored with some delights?

Rarely. I don't even have a kitchen at home in the full sense of the word. A very small space is set aside where there is a stove with two small burners and a refrigerator. There is no microwave oven - this is a terrifying thing that no one needs.

What does the famous chef have for breakfast if there is not even a full kitchen at home?

Yoghurt.

They say that the way to a man's heart is through his stomach …

The path to the heart of a woman is also, and to a greater extent than that of a man.

You know better. And what should a girl cook to surprise you and make you fall in love with herself?

I do not know. In fact, the woman I love can surprise me with everyone - even a sandwich can be prepared well or badly. The main thing is that the dish is prepared with understanding. Again, Dovlatov said on this occasion: "What are we arguing about, even if there are good and bad matches."

Are there things that are downright annoying?

When people think of their belly as a gas tank.

Because we are distinguished from animals by three things: we can have sex for pleasure, and not for the sake of procreation, we know what the future tense is, and thirdly, we can eat for pleasure. Because when they eat for the sake of food, this is a slave society.

Note to the hostess

How to make liquid bread?

You know, Hodja Nasreddin used to say: "It is impossible to describe the taste of melon to a person who has never tasted it." These are all complex processes with the use of equipment that there is simply no need to keep at home. You cannot do it yourself, even if I describe the whole process to you in detail. In the same way that you cannot make a full-length film or stage a ballet at home.

Some media people do not hide that they buy food abroad: from meat to bread …

And I can understand them, because what is sold in our supermarkets and even in the so-called luxury stores is a disaster. This is social food: food for homeless people for big money.

Where do you personally buy food for your home?

I have a lot of good suppliers - farmers. I don't buy groceries in stores, never at all.

That is, the apples on your table are exclusively from the private property of farmers?

Well, something like this. And from the possessions not located near Moscow. For the taste and value of products, everything matters: where and how these crops grew, how they were looked after, how they fertilized, how they fed the cow, how they stored cheese or milk, for example. This is all a whole science.

What do you think is absolutely forbidden to take in stores in order to protect your family?

Unfortunately, almost nothing is impossible. Trying to save time and money, people choose instant foods, semi-finished products, vegetables and fruits that are stored in stores for months; all shelf-stable products contain preservatives. In short, you need to read what is written on the label. But various chips, crackers and so on can not be used, and everyone knows about this. However, few people understand that this is a real poison, just slow-acting.

I could explain for a long time what processes are triggered in the human body when using these, even my tongue does not dare to say, products, but I will simply say: semi-finished products, canned food, all kinds of chips and crackers are not only tasteless, but also really dangerous.

Is there such a thing as food fashion? Now, let's say, healthy food is fashionable in Moscow, and you rarely find a salad dressed with mayonnaise in restaurants in the capital …

Healthy food is always fashionable. As for Russia, we have never had a culture of food consumption, much less fashion. In general, I don't like the word fashion in relation to gastronomy. This is art, not fashion. And to cooking, at home or in a restaurant, you need to approach it as an art, then the result will be appropriate. And she, like other types of art, has its own laws.

For example?

The simplest and most obvious: never use foods that have begun to deteriorate, avoid primitive foods that cause quick satiety, do not use artificial spices, leavening agents, flavor enhancers and other miracles. To expose products to the correct heat treatment, each product has its own time and its own approach, let's say.