Silverbrow on Food

Ideas in Food podcast

Tonight I went international and interviewed Aki Kamozawa and Alexander Talbot of the blog Ideas in Food, as previously touted.

I have followed their blog for some time and cannot fathom why they haven't got wider recognition.  I cannot claim to be a great predictor of any trends, let alone food trends, but I would wager these two are going to be big names very soon.  They deserve all the recognition they get, from the ideas on their blog alone.

Listen to the podcast to hear how the husband and wife team get their Ideas in Food, the benefits (and problems) they face being in the boondocks and the latest on their plans to venture forth on their own.  Also, get heads up on which of their notebooks they would like to publish as a cookbook.

Please excuse the slight technical hitch and colourful language at the beginning of the podcast. Alex was getting used to the technology and I was trying to figure out the time delay caused by the long-distance call.  My lack of technological know-how and equipment meant I was unable to edit the podcast in quite the way I would have liked.  As for the dodgy heavy breathing, that was all mine.  I have no idea why I sound like a member of the dirty mac brigade.

If you want to download the podcast you can with iTunes. Alternatively, you can access the soundfile by clicking on the podcast button.

Forthcoming podcast: Aki & Alex, Ideas in Food

I have really admired the blog Ideas in Food for some time.  It is written by chefs - and husband and wife - Aki Kamozawa and Alexander Talbot.  They are the chefs at Keyah Grande, a hunting lodge, which according to its website is near Pagosa Springs, Colorado. When I looked it up on Google Maps, I realised that everything is relative and in truth, they are near nowhere, properly the middle of nowhere.

Despite this (or is it in spite of this?) they appear to create some of the most imaginative dishes around.  The thing I particularly enjoy about Ideas in Food is that often it is a stream of their consciousness about food.  They riff about what does and doesn't work in the kitchen.  To the ordinary home cook, many of the dishes might seem bonkers, such as Warmed King Salmon, pistachio cotton candy, watercress, jalapeno-apple dressing.  But then again, think about those flavours and you can see they might work.  Or what about their Potato Gnocchi in Foie Gras Consomme, which sounds like such a perfect dish you wonder why no-one devised it before.

Their cooking conjures up lots of questions.  I now have the opportunity to ask some of those questions because Aki and Alex have agreed to do a podcast with me.  We have not confirmed a date yet because work and a seven hour time difference is conspiring against us, but with any luck it will be sometime in the next week or so.  When the date is confirmed I will let you know.

As with the Dan Lepard podcast, I'll happily take questions from readers that I will ask Aki and Alex.  Either email me or leave a comment below.

UPDATE The podcast has been confirmed for Monday 16th October.  It will be early evening UK time, lunchtime US time.

Dan Lepard podcast

I think it went rather well.  It, is the first, hopefully not the last, Silverbrow podcast.  As previously announced, Dan Lepard was the man at the other end of the phone.

He is one of the UK's best bakers and takes stunning photos of food.  Giorgio Locatelli's Made in Italy: Food and Stories is evidence of that.

If you want to download the podcast you can through iTunes. Alternatively, you can access the soundfile by clicking on the podcast button.

Keep 'em coming

I'm still taking suggestions for my Dan Lepard podcast.   Most people seem to prefer email rather than comments which is fine by me.  And before you think I'm getting desperate at the prospect of my first podcast I'm not, I'm just a jolly nice chap who is helping to jog your memory.  Honest.

Suggest questions for my Dan Lepard podcast

I am very excited.  Dan Lepard, probably the UK's finest baker and a leading food photographer, has agreed to be the first interviewee of what I hope will be an occasional series of podcasts.

If you are a regular reader of Silverbrow on Food, you will know that I think very highly of Dan and I'm not the only one, as his website so bashfully points out:

'The bread supremo' Fay Maschler, The Evening Standard

'Lepard is one of London's most inspired and inspiring breed of new young bakers... a British bread champion' Michael Bateman, The Independent

'A passionate baker, dessert maker and talented pastry chef.' Nick Lander, The Financial Times

I'll be interviewing Dan on the evening of Thursday 14 September and hopefully (technology willing), I'll be posting the podcast to the site later that night.  I've got some ideas of what I want to speak to him about, obviously including his experiences as a baker, as an author of his best-selling book The Handmade Loaf, as webmaster and about his forthcoming projects.

One of those projects, Made in Italy, Food and Stories is the catalyst for the interview.  The book is the first serious cookbook / biography from Michelin starred Giorgio Locatelli - I'm pleased to say he's another man who's food I adore.  From what I've heard this book is a bit of a magnum opus, running to over 600 pages, it covers the full gamut of Italian cooking according to Giorgio.  Dan is responsible for all the photos.  No date has yet been confirmed for the release of the book, however Dan believes it should be early September.

Because he is such a nice bloke he has agreed to let me give you a sneak peak of the book, including some beautiful photography and stunning looking recipes.  Click here you lucky people.

Another new project he is working on and I'd like to talk to him about, is a book with the Ronseal-esque title of British Baking.  It does what it says on the tin - it will be about the history and current state of baking in the UK.

So, you know what I'm interested in, but I'm interested in what you're interested in.  I'd like suggestions, comments and ideas from you.  Either leave them in the comments section under this post, or email me.