Is degustation a pretentious waste of time, or the perfect way to sample the work of top chefs?
Michael Harden investigates. “The menu de degustation is the finest expression of avant-garde cooking.” – FERRAN ADRIA, El Bulli restaurant IF YOU were looking for evidence of how completely the food world has succumbed to the cult of the chef, the degustation menu would be a star witness. The increasingly common multi-course menu – in which you put yourself completely in the hands of a chef – delights some diners and infuriates others, because it completely removes choice from the dining experience. For a few hours, it truly is all about the chef. When they work and are designed by someone worthy of worship, degustation menus provide a sublime experience that is as much about theatre and entertainment as it is about eating. But when things go wrong, suffering through several hours of badly timed and proportioned food can have you swearing off degustation for life and cursing the day it became normal to treat cooks like rock stars. The French word “degustation” can be translated as “ta
