I've been accused of having very long ingredient lists, and I guess there's some truth in that.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
People are in a hurry. They don't want to look at a long list of ingredients. Cooking is terribly hard work.
There are so many ingredients that are approved for use. You can't be an expert on all of them.
I have smuggled so many ingredients across so many borders, like shallot confit from Thailand, or a new sauce from New Orleans not approved by the FDA.
Every era has its own list of ingredients that are considered exotic and then, 15 years later, they're not.
The most important thing for me is to really buy the best ingredient.
There's no way I'm going to stand up for bad ingredients. We love seasonal ingredients. It's a false dichotomy to say that modern cooking is at odds with that, but some people want to have a great ingredient and no technique.
I'm not a big believer in vitamins and all that stuff.
If you can't taste an ingredient, you have to ask yourself why it is there.
I'm aware there are certain products that are being advertised - food products - with 'no chemicals whatsoever.' Well, that would be pretty hard to arrange, since everything around us is made up of atoms and molecules - chemicals - including ourselves.
Some things you know about, you know what the ingredients are - maybe not all of them. But it's up to you to put in the amount. It's up to the director to nag you until you get it right.