Security Pie

So I like it when I can take the learnings of one field and apply it to another. When we started PortAuthority, it was clear to me that data security was important. I came from the defense industry which (for the most part) values data security more than it does systems – and for good reason: if enemies get access to confidential data, it is a very short while to losing military superiority.

However, I was disappointed and somewhat frustrated to learn that at the time (2000-2003) little thought was given by corporations to data security. Words to that effect were used, but the majority of security was dedicated to the A(vailability) in CIA and some were dedicated to the I(ntegrity). Very little (with a few exceptions) were dedicated to the C(onfidentlity).

As it turns out, what was missing was knowhow. This knowhow which is rampant across DOD corridors, was virtually non-existant in the corporate world. And the few that did understand the concepts were ex-defense employees.

So the knowhow for data security is now being built, and ever more security folk get up in the morning and say “how do I help enhance our competitive standing in the industry” vs. “how do I ensure I don’t get to clean up all the machines over the weekend”.

So – what is in this knowhow? Well, to me it appears that the knowhow consists of knowledge (theories), experience (past experiences, witnessing others, reading case studies), and language (how do I communicate to all parties involved in the activities). Or – as I will explain later – the common memories in the field (similar to the so called “muscle memory” in the organization).

Well here’s to the topic at hand: food, ”foodies” and what makes a great dish “great”.

Over the past couple of years I have become a “foodie” -  I have always loved food. But a dinner at Moto changed my understanding of eating forever. I thoroughly enjoyed the meal but was perturbed by some of the concepts at Moto: Great dishes like the squid and the amazing beet combinations contrasted the the chef’s abilities to create things that I could not bring myself to enjoy – like the nachos dessert.

The Nachos at Moto was an excellent dish. But it played with expectations that I could not resolve – Grated mango took the place of Jack cheese, Creme Anglais substitiuted for Mexican cream, and beignets instead of Nachos. The dichotomy was just too much. I repeat – the food was tasty. It was delicious (I mean – really, how bad can fresh mango, custard sauce and beignets be? Had they not been perfectly shaped like nachos!).

I had to figure it out – What made a great dish? Previously I was convinced that tasty food was good food. But here was a tasty dish that was not “great”. Obviously I was wrong – but little did I know how wrong I was!

So as usual, it was a start of a learning exercise that spanned a few years as I dug deeper into the cooking trend commonly referred to as “molecular gastronomy”. I have dined at many leading proponents of the techniques, places such as WD-50, Moto, COI, TFL and Per Se, Manresa, and others. I have had great dishes and not-so-great dishes. And I purchased books. Not your small friendly simplified cookery books, but the heavily detailed stuff that is coming out of Barcelona and San Sebastian and Chicago (the modern Meccas of avante Garde cuisine).

The answer came from the catalogs of Ferran Adria’s El-Bulli restaurant. Ferran fastidiuously analyzed the diner’s experience. He built a map of all the influences on a diner. And this map contained the answer.

But I will start with an example given by Ferran when he explains that some dishes will forever be lost on global diners. Example in point was a dish called ”Cala Montjoi Goose Barnacles”. As Ferran explains, this is not really Goose Barnacles because Goose Barnacles do not grow in Cala Montjoi. Only a resident of the Costa Verde will know that!  As for me, I: 1. did not know Barnacles were edible; 2. Did not know there was such a thing as Goose Barnacles and 3. Would not know what the heck I was eating and how to put it in context.

The diners problem would not relate to the quality of the food – no; in this case the entire dish would miss because of a lack of experiental context: The associate memories were just not there. Or as Ferran put it in his diagram – Memory is a key influencer on the diner.

Looking back I can say with conviction that Memory is probably the number 1 ingredient in a chef’s arsenal. Unfortunately, not all chef’s understand that! My proof comes from endless interactions with people who fixate on the same stuff – like the grilled chicken, the steak place, their favorite wine or their disdain from Gefilte fish or German ham hocks (are all Gefilte fish or pickled ham hocks really bad? Or is one brain cell immediately sending the all important “I didn’t like the texture when I was 7″ signal and the diner succumbing to what was really 1 bad experience too long ago to remember).

Like their security bretheren trying to cope with data security demands, all diners cannot be confronted with dishes outside their realm of understanding. All foodies can really do is try to absorb the experience the way an anthropologist would a tribal dance. Given time, the Memories will be formed and the foodie’s range of interest will increase.

It is like the early days of sushi: simple, unthreatening dishes in rolls like smoked (not live) salmon; philly rolls; spicy tuna; egg omlet; cooked crab. 20 years later and people eat Sashimi (look mom – no roll!) buy fresh tuna at Whole foods to eat raw and Ikura Uzura (salmon roe and quail egg yolk) are a standard dish.

For Japanese cuisine memories were built, language was developed, allowing us to experience more of the exquisite Japanese cuisine. And the diners understood fish more than ever before. And it took some 20 years!

Like nouvelle cusine and fusion I believe the avante garde cuisine is a trend rather than fad. I believe it will force us to learn  more about what we eat than ever before. And it is about time.

And here’s to some practical advice: can you control you mind or does your mind control you? Can you open YOUR mindto new concepts? Try that next time you see locals eating something weird at a faraway land. You might be surprised just how good those things are! And if you can’t – well, remember the plasticity of the brain. More details here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MPSdWY5VdEE