About Simplicity

Some of the ideas that stay with a chef are also the simplest: respect the ingredient, understand what it needs and avoid adding complexity only to make a dish look more important.

“I like to keep it simple in my kitchen. The ingredients are the authentic protagonists.”

Cristian Marino

This was the thought behind one of my earliest Journal notes, published in 2018.

Simplicity in a professional kitchen does not mean doing less carelessly. It means knowing what matters enough to remove what does not.

A lobster risotto built around clarity

The dish was a lobster risotto built around Carnaroli rice, lobster and extra-virgin olive oil, with a bisque prepared from the lobster itself.

The point was not the number of ingredients. It was the relationship between them: the rice carrying the flavour, the lobster remaining recognisable, the bisque giving depth and the olive oil completing the dish without hiding its character.

When the main ingredient is good and the technique is controlled, a plate does not need to explain itself through decoration. The beauty comes from balance, proportion and taste.

Simplicity is a decision

Years later, I still see simplicity in the same way. It is not a shortcut and it is not the absence of technique. It is the discipline to let technique support the ingredient rather than compete with it.

A simple dish can be demanding because there is nowhere for weak ingredients, poor seasoning or imprecise cooking to hide. That is precisely why simplicity remains one of the most useful tests of a cook’s judgment.

Originally published on 31 August 2018. This archive edition has been lightly edited for clarity and presentation while preserving the original idea and photographs.

Further reading from the Journal

• Italian Food Explained: Seven Principles from an Italian Chef
• The Eggplant Parmigiana Guests Always Ask Me For
• Italian Cuisine Becomes UNESCO Heritage

About The Author

Cristian Marino

administrator

Cristian Marino writes about food, leadership, kitchen culture and international hospitality, drawing on more than twenty-five years of professional experience. Writing on this Journal since 2018.

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