Coquina. Figure di cuochi nella gastromania contemporanea (appunti)

Are we certain that the modern-day chef is a monolithic figure, endowed with the same prerogatives, the same qualities and abilities, skills and knowledge, and, above all, the same values? Can we rest on the idea that the chef, with its lights and shadows, legends and ridiculousness attached, follows the same ideal models everywhere, the same systems of meaning, similar procedures in the kitchen, endowing its celebrated dishes, if not the identical taste, with a constant air of family? Can we swear that the surprise effect so much sought after, and so much criticized, perhaps peppered with stereotypical value-screening (sustainability, care for the environment, fight against waste, km 0, respect for tradition, search for absolute flavor, vegetarianism...) is the only goal of the contemporary cook? or, more likely, are we faced with a conceptual nebula (aesthetic, ethical, political, social, economic, religious...) that should be somewhat articulated internally and redefined outwardly, i.e., thoroughly explained in order to be better understood? To try to answer such questions is the purpose of this paper.