France vs. Spain, circa 2003

I ran across this long-ish article, "A Laboratory of Taste," from 2003 about Ferran Adrià's restaurant El Bulli (the one essentially credited with starting the whole Surrealist cuisine movement). This gives in-depth descriptions of the techniques and usage of materials that were initially so imaginative and fresh and now, especially after their appearances in one challenge on The Next Iron Chef, seem almost commonplace. Also, there is a fleeting comparison of Spanish and French art and film as an additional context for the comparison of Spanish and French cuisines. Sit back, wish you had a culinary lab all of your own, and read about the ideas that started quite the revolution in the concept of how and why we sit down with something edible in front of us.

I'm not doing resolutions this year, or at least none have occurred to me. However, if I had a pre-existing list of "stuff I want to do in life," I would be adding a visit to El Bulli or another of the key restaurants that use these techniques with the aim of engaging all of the senses in the dining experience.