I said this yesterday, then everyone, inc. @Francisjmallman, jumps on the band-wagon, saying the very same thing in this interview from The London Evening Standard.
“I really believe that the only reason to sit down and have delicious food is to have conversations with your friends, family, lovers,” he said. “Food and wine can’t be the most important thing. The only reason is to sit down with friends, is to get food and wine to make you more witty and truthful. The food and wine is not the reason to be there.”
Mallman, a slightly larger than life character, hailing from Argentina, specialises in cooking everything on and over burning wood. I realise that’s something of an understatement, like saying Genghis Khan “specialised in riding horses and fighting a bit” but hey…
He was the subject of some pieces during the Mind Of A Chef series, with Chef Ed Lee, showing seven different techniques to cook pretty much anything you chose to use:
- Parilla – A barbecue set over hot coals.
- Chapa – Cooking on a cast iron grill.
- Horno de Barro – The wood oven.
- Caldero – The calderon, cooking in a cast iron kettle.
- Rescoldo – Cooking in ashes, especially vegetables.
- Infiernillo – “Little Hell,” cooking in between 2 fires so you have heat from both sides and finally
- Asador – The “Iron Cross,” cooking things standings & overlooking a fire.
Watch this short clip to see him work some magic…
https://youtu.be/2f-Lda1qdQE
He’s now coming to England and opening a restaurant here later this year. We shall probably have to go…
