Bruno Chemel: Savorama

Tuesday 30 October 2012

Umeboshi, a Japanese salted and dried plum that has been used extensively in Baume's summer menu
Following on from this week's UK launch of Modernist Cuisine At Home, we profile a similarly educational food blog. As the owner of experimental macrobiotic restaurant Baume, Bruno Chemel's blog Savorama takes the Californian restaurant's famously complex dishes and breaks them down to a more comprehensible level. 

With fact files on his favourite and most used ingredients, and information on which fruits and vegetables are in season and when best to buy them, the site's aim is to bring gourmet cuisine to the table of the layman.

Brick dough filled with egg, onion, ham and coriander from Baume
Chemel specialises in translating gourmet dishes into recipes that can be followed by the home chef: for example, the brick dough shown above (also known as a brik or warqa dough). The French dish is a paper-thin pancake traditionally eaten at breakfast; Chemel's twist is to add harissa for a darker and more mature culinary experience.

The Baumetini replaces vermouth with sparkling sake and passionfruit caviar