XO Soused Sunday special - how to spark a culinary revolution

What revolutionises everyday cooking into an effort that is considered gastronomy? How did parts of French cooking and Japanese food culture become elevated into ‘gastronomy’? What factors need to exist for this transformation to happen? This special feature-length episode explores these question by looking at the work that chefs in France, Spain, Japan and other countries do, the ingredients and techniques that they use, but also the kind of food media that surrounds them and the diners that support them. And what could be next for Chinese cuisine?

Gastronomy or cookery? Andrew’s wuwei smoked duck ‘bird’s nest’ of puffed mung bean noodles, pearls of trout roe and smoked duck, and topped with micro-greens accompanies his dish of Anhui red braised fermented wild sea bass. This bird’s nest is constructed to order, with each component tweezed carefully into place before serving to the diner.