Famous Peking Duck restaurant serves up molecular cuisine

Traditional Chinese cuisine seems a far cry from the high-tech equipment used in so-called molecular cuisine.

But Dong Zhenxiang, owner of the Da Dong restaurant in Beijing which is a leader of the trendy culinary movement here, says fresh techniques can only improve traditional Chinese cooking.

"Importing new cooking skills is aimed at improving, enriching and promoting Chinese cuisine. Molecular gastronomy is only one of those skills," said Dong, whose establishment also serves platter upon platter of classic roast duck.

Molecular cuisine, a phrase ascribed to a scientific approach to gastronomy, seeks to investigate and explain the chemical reasons behind the transformation of ingredients.

The trend was on full view when hundreds crammed into a chic Beijing art gallery for demonstrations given by chef Albert Adria of elBulli, the Spanish restaurant seen as the world leader in the molecular cuisine movement.

"It is amazing. We got 13,000 e-mails for this event," said Irish chef Brian McKenna, who organized the two classes in Beijing's trendy 798 art district, as well as a dinner staged by Da Dong which wrapped up over the weekend.

Adria, brother of the restaurant's head chef Ferran, whipped up "magical chocolate ice powderm," a white caramel dessert in the shape of a thin maple leaf and a layered green tea and mango cookie for the spellbound foodies.

He said at one class he had "made 12 dishes and improvised with a few things – a bit of a Chinese-Spanish mix," calling the huge turnout "a major surprise." Every participant paid about $100 to attend the event.

Fu Yongjun, a cooking consultant for Unilever Foodsolutions who was one of the hundreds to see Adria in action in Beijing.

"I am very interested in molecular gastronomy. I think this is a high standard in Western food – very fresh and secret," Fu said. "Maybe Chinese chefs will want to learn something from this."

But Adria bristled at the label "molecular cuisine" for his innovative work.

"That is a label they have stuck on me," he said. "I don't cook 'molecular' – I know what I'm doing and I want to make wonderful dishes."

Last year, elBulli received two million reservation requests but served just 8,000 meals, made by a team of 40 chefs. The restaurant is only open for six months of the year; the other six months are dedicated to research.

When asked if elBulli's brand of molecular cuisine could take off here, McKenna replied: "Absolutely! The Chinese are the most food-knowledgeable people in the world."

Da Dong, which has reportedly invested tens of thousands of dollars in high-tech equipment, now offers more than a dozen "molecular" dishes, some of them based on seafood or goose liver.

AFP

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