Episode 3: Why 20 Years of Molecular Gastronomy
Key Points
- 1A renowned molecular gastronomy chef, who pioneered the technique 20 years ago, was eliminated from a competition because his elaborate apple dish, utilizing outdated methods, was deemed inferior to a plain apple.
- 2This incident highlights the danger of relying on past expertise, as skills and techniques, no matter how refined, can become irrelevant if not continuously updated to meet current standards.
- 3The article emphasizes that professional success in any field depends solely on present-day relevance and impact, not on past achievements or outdated mastery.
The paper, titled "Why couldn't the 20-year veteran of molecular gastronomy beat a 'raw apple'?", analyzes a scene from a culinary competition, likely a TV show named (Black & White Chef 2), to illustrate a critical lesson about professional relevance and skill obsolescence.
The article details the performance of a molecular gastronomy chef, who was purportedly the first to introduce this technique to Korea in 2006. For a challenge involving an apple, the chef employed a complex, multi-stage culinary process honed over two decades:
- Sugar Molding: Boiling sugar to cast it into the precise form of an apple.
- Cryogenic Pulverization: Taking roasted apples, flash-freezing them with liquid nitrogen, and then pulverizing them into a fine powder. This technique, leveraging the extreme cold of liquid nitrogen, aims to alter the texture and presentation of the ingredient dramatically.
- Reconstruction: Carefully re-filling the pre-formed sugar apple mold with the apple powder, creating a dish that visually mimics a whole apple but offers a completely different, deconstructed texture and flavor profile.
The author, observing this elaborate procedure, notes a shift from initial awe to a sense of dismay, questioning the contemporary relevance of such techniques. The judge, An Seong-jae, delivered a sharp critique, stating, "Nitrogen and isomalt techniques are now too outdated. It looks like a dish from 20 years ago," ultimately leading to disqualification. The judge's subsequent interview comment, "Plain raw apple was the most delicious," underscored the failure of the chef's intricate creation to surpass simple, natural flavor.
The core methodology or argument presented by the paper is a cautionary tale regarding the pitfalls of unadapted "mastery" and the "trap of proficiency" (숙련도라는 이름의 함정). It posits that while the chef believed his long-honed techniques represented an "upgrade," the market perceived them as "expired artifacts." The paper explicitly states that past achievements or pioneering status ("I was first," "I was a pioneer," "I was once successful") hold no currency in the current business environment. A professional's career is marked by an inability to change the past, and past experience can even become irrelevant. The critical demand in contemporary professional settings is not familiar proficiency, but rather "effective solutions" (유효한 한 방) that are relevant to the present era. The paper emphasizes the need for continuous self-assessment, questioning whether one's skills belong in a "museum" or are still "sharp in the field." Ultimately, it concludes that individuals are judged solely by their "today's" output, asserting that "to live, one must forget past glories."