There is a level of meticulous refinement to the work of burgeoning culinary artist and creative director Imogen Kwok, one that transcends the immediacy of the food realm. Raised in New York and now based in London, the trained chef is known for transforming the most disparate ingredients into mesmerizing gastronomic installations that blur the boundaries between cuisine and the arts.
In Kwok's kitchen, like in every gallery, museum, sumptuous private residence, and temporary setup graced by her craft across the globe, a pear is never just a pear — nothing is ever what it looks like. Borrowing from creative disciplines as varied as architecture, design, fashion, and art, with a special focus on their past, she injects seemingly simple recipes with a life of their own.
Painstaking studies in texture, form, and, needless to say, taste, each of her ephemeral sculptural creations — designed as much to be eaten as they are meant to be admired — captures the beauty that lies in the everyday. But what are the chef essentials that allow the artist to mold her dishes into shape?
What Kitchen Essential Speaks Most to Your Craft?
"I'm very particular about every tool I use, so I thought I'd talk about mandolins and peelers, or any tool with that type of blade. With a mandolin, you can make super-precise, thin, elegant slices, and I use mine all the time. Radishes, cucumbers, onions, carrots, apples, pears — whatever you're cutting has to be hard enough to catch the blade, so avoid anything soft or too delicate that can break.
Different attachments can help you julienne, shred, or make lattice potato chips, my very first painful accident at culinary school. I cut myself while using a mandolin, but it looked more as if a tiny tiger had mauled my palm. It was such an awkward place to put a Band-Aid, awful! When you're comfortable and confident with using it, though, as I am now, it makes prep go by speedily.
Another total workhorse is your peeler. I prefer a Y peeler — actually, I don't just prefer it, but I refuse to use any other one (yes, I'm that person who will bring tools to a friend's house when I know they don't have the ones I like using). Any otherwise shaped peeler, and I can't move as quickly or mechanically.
At Eleven Madison Park, I spent hours peeling just about anything that can be peeled: I turned salsify into slender rods, removed the skin from butternut squash, peeled carrots, so many carrots. But you can also obviously use it to make strips from citrus or make an asparagus look tidy and chic."
Imogen Kwok's Most Trusted Blades
"Benriner makes a couple of mandoline types. Personally, I love the classic and the Japanese handcrafted Jumbo, which is extra wide (perfect for a Nashi pear)."
"I like using this Victorinox Star Julienne Peeler, especially for things like green papaya salad, especially."
"I buy these Kuhn Rikon peelers in packs so I have them hidden in my kit, in various drawers, as they never let me down."
"This Microplane Y-shaped peeler looks beautiful and is super wide, which makes it one of my favorites."
"This one isn't adjustable, which I would normally dislike, but the one setting works perfectly for garlic, so I use this it exclusively when making garlic slices."
In more cuisine-friendly news, M&S x Chef Tom Kerridge have just launched a line of professional-grade cookware, with Denby serveware that, to quote Livingetc's wellness writer Amiya Baratan, "it's hosting-ready". In need of a refresher on the best cookware materials for either performance or hygiene? Well, she has got tips aplenty.
