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 Having recently opened a new concept called Nish in the former March space, Chef Wayne Nish is busy sourcing exotic European, Asian and Middle Eastern ingredients to bring a novel experience to New York diners. This week on the Frog Blog, Nish checks in to share a few words on fusion.
So, what have you got for us, Nish?
"A lot has been written about fusion cuisine in the last 20 years. Much of it has not been very good. Joyce Goldstein even called it “confusion”. It’s true that a lot of young cooks seem to like the idea more than they know what to do with it. Throwing a lot of things together just because they sound cool may not be the best way to go about it.
I came by it honestly. I had Maltese, Italian, Japanese, Polish and Greek cooks in my immediate and extended family. Family gatherings amounted to lessons in ethnic foods for a young, inquisitive mind. I observed that a lot of ingredient substitutions needed to be made as certain authentic foods weren't available in NYC in the ‘50s and ‘60s. So, as an adult I came to integrate those observations into my work.
Vernacular in language changes with vocabulary. Syntax and grammar don't change. Vocabulary is added every day. Similarly, I see ingredients as the currency of change in modern cuisine. New technique isn't introduced as often. For years I let my palate guide my hands. If I found a leafy green vegetable in Chinatown and didn't know its name that was OK. I only needed to know what it tasted like and how to cook it. Could I use it in place of spinach or kale or Swiss chard? If I did would it inform an old dish with a new identity? I've long thought so. In fact, I was determined not to know the road signs so that I could continue unfettered by tradition.
When the first intrepid explorers returned to Europe from blazing the spice routes they didn't sell those new foods with recipe booklets. People simply assimilated them into what they already knew. So that’s how coriander seed found its way into German spice cakes, or paprika made its way into Hungarian food and cardamom became a part of Denmark’s food culture. Tomatoes, peppers and potatoes came from South America, not Italy, Iberia and the British Isles.
My new menu puts the ingredients that have long served as the backbone of what I do into the spotlight, highlighting them both on the menu and the accompanying glossary. Some of the flavors are new and exciting, but many are strangely familiar. You just might be surprised to find out that Chinese lop ch’ueng sausage tastes very much like a sweet coppa from Italy, or that Jinghua ham has a flavor profile almost identical to Springfield ham from Virginia. Using the exotic to bring new meaning to the familiar is the underlying philosophy of my work at Nish."
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