the mother of all armadas

Read this over at Suttonhoo's excellent blog 'Detritus' today, and thought I noticed some similarities between the "father of molecular gastronomy" and my six year old boy. Thought I'd see how the two compare....


Spanish chef Ferran Adria's support crew vs. Joe-Henry's support crew....
Adria has:
One "gastronomic interpreter" provided
by the Spanish government*
Joe-Henry has:
Two "parents"
who tell him to eat his dinner. Try it - one bite at least. If you don't like, well, that's too bad, I'm not making anything else.

Adria has:
Two people whose sole job is to sweep
the stones in the driveway*
Joe-Henry has:
One mom on the lookout for missing train track, and tiny street signs that can poke right through your foot if you step on it in the middle of the night.

Adria has:
49 kitchen staff*
Joe-Henry has:
One mom. (Impressive, no?)

Adria has:
additional staff of photographers and
graphic designers "who often do nothing but
document his every move in the kitchen"*
Joe-Henry has:
One mom and one dad who photograph and film him nearly every day.

*With credit to Andrew Zimmern and his article about Spanish chef Ferran Adria's support crew, in Northwest
Airlines January in-flight magazine. And the wonderful Ms. Hoo, intrepid traveller, who probably has been reading too many in-flight magazines these days!

Thank you Hoo. You always inspire me. We'll have to travel together someday!