version that they make for me, a dish as satisfying as the best eggs
Benedict.
“We got lucky,” says Arnold.
Lucky, yes, but also this dish is the result of their unique
process. Noren and Arnold aren’t afraid to follow their indulgent
impulses (id), but in doing so they apply sound culinary
knowledge and technique (superego). That’s a good strategy for
anyone who likes to take chances in the kitchen at home: be as
outlandish as you want to be, but do it within a logical framework.
For Arnold, that framework is built with science. When he
explains the immersion circulator (a water bath with a controlled
temperature for cooking food that’s been vacuum-sealed), he
speaks like a scientist: “Advantages of technique: when guests
come, dinner’s always a minute away from being finished.”
For Noren, that framework is built with traditional cooking
methods. His knife skills are flawless, and he makes hollandaise
with as much ease as most of us feel when we open a jar of
mayonnaise. “You have to know the rules before you can break
the rules,” he tells me.
And break the rules, Noren and Arnold do. At an event at the
famous architect Philip Johnson’s house, Noren served French
onion soup for dessert. “When you cook onion in a pressure
cooker with milk,” he tells me, “it gets sweet. So I made French
onion soup ice cream.”
The wicked grin on both their faces as Noren tells me about his
dessert suggests the real delight they both take in pushing the