Welcome to A Retro Kitchen!: A philosopher-chef

I just read a beautiful article in this December's Food & Wine, by Anya von Bremzen (of Mastering the Art of Soviet Cooking: A Memoir of Food and Longing), about the Italian chef Massimo Bottura, whom she describes as a "philosopher-chef" who "bridges...folklore and post-molecularism." He says in his book Never Trust a Skinny Italian Chef that "a recipe is just a starting point of reflection, always evolving."

There are some beautiful previews of his book at his publisher's site, http://www.phaidon.com/store/food-cook/massimo-bottura-never-trust-a-skinny-italian-chef-9780714867144/ . On the cool site about the 50 best restaurants in the world! is his restaurant that's #3! http://www.theworlds50best.com/list/1-50-winners/osteria-francescana . That restaurant's site is cool as well: http://www.osteriafrancescana.it/ .

He's a very good human being as well as chef -- he's put together a soup kitchen for the upcoming Milan Expo that will use leftovers from other pavilions to make delicious dishes to feed the poor. Other chefs have agreed to join him, including Alain Ducasse and Mario Batali.

You'll find old and new ideas on this site...

I love playing with both food and history and am trying to combine these loves here and in various projects. My most recently published was a fun 3-volume set, which you can get free below, which speaks much of cuisine in a little known part of the world from earliest times to 700 CE....Speaking of old, this is a reincarnation of three old blogs, one shared with friends all over the world and called something like Our Favorite Food This Week, and then one called That Was Delicious that started my toying with retro food ideas, and then A History Writer in the Kitchen where I explored history more....I have kept many posts from those blogs, including many recipes I thought you might like.

Enjoy!