Jordan Kahn came in as our terrific pinch hitter when René Redzepi fell ill the night he was to fly over from Copenhagen for his lecture with Lars Williams.
He was the first lecture of the class and provided an introduction to looking at food as molecules.
Jordan is the chef/partner at Red Medicine in LA.
Jordan brought in an incredible bounty of wild plants, herbs, and flowers foraged just the day before in nearby Topanga Canyon.
He explained, and we tasted:
wood sorrel
chrysanthemums
radish pods
California bay leaf
young fennel
mustard
and more
Many wild plants have a much more intense and often completely different flavor than do their domestic counterpart. Why is this so? 1) Remember that from the botanical perspective, these 'smelly' molecules are defense mechanisms for the plant and help to repel predators. Wild plants face a greater selective pressure and therefore, perhaps evolution has ...
