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Dr Johnny Drain

FUTURE OF FOOD | FOOD DESIGN | SCIENCE | FERMENTATION

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drjohnnydrain

Staff lunch, Menton: where France kisses Italy wit Staff lunch, Menton: where France kisses Italy with one foot in the mountains and one foot in the Med. 

A tour of one of Mirazur's gardens this morning with ethnobotanist Alessandro, tasting some cool things, sharing ideas and knowledge, and learning about the history of plants native to the land on this side of the border and the Italian side, which is about a minute's walk up the hill from the restaurant. 💚🌴🌱🌿🌾
It IS a wonderful job! In part 4 of my @umamifun s It IS a wonderful job! In part 4 of my @umamifun series I got to reflect on what I learned from talking to my umami heroes @mamaumami (Dr. Kumiko Ninomiya), @mcmasterchef (Doug McMaster) and @paopopnpickles (Pao Liu, @paohaus_fermentary) in the previous episodes and why I think a deeper understanding of umami can help you become a better cook and make the world a better place.

See my bio for links to the full-length YouTube videos or at umamiinspiration.org.uk.

#umami #umamiinfo #umamifun #ferments #fermenting #fermentation #foodscience #garum #koji #tofu #furu #silo #silolondon #zerowaste #foodwaste #dairygarum #buttermilkgarum #fooddesign
Me & @ahrum_p, smashing the chocolatarchy in @Wire Me & @ahrum_p, smashing the chocolatarchy in @Wireduk magazine this month! 🙌🙌🙌 

[I coined the term chocolatarchy this week, and was pretty pleased. It currently yields only 2 Google search results: not quite a Googlewhack, which are rare these days.]

They called me an "affable Midlands polymath" in the first draft of the text but it got edited out. If I were to get a tattoo of something nice that someone said about me it probably would be that. Perhaps someone can chisel it into my gravestone instead? 

I grew up a few miles from the Cadbury's factory + went to art school in Bournville where you could smell the roasting cacao vapours when the winds blew kindly, so I guess this chocolate journey has been brewing in me for a while. (Bournville is the model village that the Cad family founded and built to house their workers. They were Quakers so there's no pubs: some lunchtimes we'd engage a light jog to the 'village-limits' to the nearest pub, chug a pint and then jog back for classes. Titans of modern industry might learn a thing or two from them (minus the no pubs, obvs); Amazon are on the cover of the issue of Wired.)

We did the creative direction for the pic but @nickwilsonphoto made the magic happen + journalist @kf.morris11 was the genesis for the whole article so we owe them both big time. Both thoroughly lovely, talented blokes.

Our day-to-day work actually looks absolutely nothing like this but, you know, people expect fancy glassware if you call yourself a scientist. Which I still do. 

So we borrowed all this sexy glassware from @mrlyan. His meth-lab days are over—he assures me—but it also doubles as his Martini aspirator (zoom in). Look it up, cool piece of kit. Add some red/brown food colouring and you've got yourself a Wonka-esque mad scientist aesthetic. Perpetuating stereotypes of what scientists do and look like, for my sins.

You can read the full article in the Mar/Apr ‘22 issue of WiredUK.

Follow us on @wnwnfoodlabs. If you want to. Or don't. Whatever. 

#wnwnfoodlabs #altuniverse #altchoc #altchocolate #altprotein #wnwnfoodlabs #instasweet #foodtech #chocolate #chocolates
#tbt Slinking around head-to-toe in Prada in the n #tbt Slinking around head-to-toe in Prada in the name of fermentation. What a life! Sir Harry of Styles in the same get-up for reference ➡️

Big thanks to the @prada team @yet_london & @mrlyanstudio for blessing me, dressing me & letting me do my thing 💓💓💓

More pics—arguably by popular demand—better than my original rangey selfies, from proper photographer @kategreenphotographer. Thanks Kate! 

@MrLyanStudio: " We were comissioned by @Prada and @MiuMiu to create bespoke and intimate events for their clients. As we love bringing great people doing cool things together, we sought out the expertise of our pals, @DrJohnnyDrain, @RareTeaLady & @Land_Choc, to bring their respective knowledge of fermentation, tea and chocolate to the mix 🦠🫖🍫

For each session we had our expert friends extoll the ins-and-outs of what they do, what makes them truly unique, and why we love them so. This was followed with a cocktail masterclass hosted by ourselves, utilising the ingredients they had just learnt about, to be mixed into bespoke drinks for each session. 💛👨🏻‍🏫🍸👩🏻‍🏫🍹👨🏻‍🏫💛

From materials used, to how the people involved in production live and are treated (and more), all of these are so integral to the way Prada operates, which is why our experts were the perfect fit, with their own emphases placed on sustainable practices in what they do ♻"
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#MrLyanStudio #prada #miumiu #MrLyan #fermentation #fermenting #prada #miumiu #harrystyles #harrystyles'dad
Obsession: these critters are why I've spent much Obsession: these critters are why I've spent much of the past 8 months in my bunker in East London—free of natural light, forms of heating + fresh air—and probably why I've been more distracted, absent-minded + an even moodier foodie than usual 🤪 

Today they've been rolling out @wnwnfoodlabs' door as we send the first hundred-odd boxes ➡️ to our taste testers. Phase 2 complete 🙌

To say we are excited is an under-fkn-statement. We're can't wait to hear what people think. And, in truth, a little nervous too! They're not perfect—that much I know—but they're a first step. And you know what they say about long journeys. (It's also true of very short, unsuccessful, journeys but you know...)

Next week I'm visiting my amazing co-founder @ahrum_p in the Canaries where she lives with the sun, the surf + a thing called vitamin D—sometimes I think I got the rougher side of our deal? We'll be plotting Phases 3.0 to 5.5 and general choc joy.

Thanks—which will be dispensed fully in good time—to everyone who's helped and supported us in every which way so far. We really do ✨❤️✨ you. 

#wnwnfoodlabs #altchocolate #altchoc #chocolate #altuniverse #instasweet #foodstagram #instafood #instayum #foodporn #chocolate #chocolates #chocolatebar #chocolatelover #chocolatemaking #sustainablefood #cacaofree #cocoa #ethicalchocolate #vegan #chocolatetruffles #veganchocolate
Cooking with Scorsese & Others: Life achievement u Cooking with Scorsese & Others: Life achievement unlocked—to have a recipe featured in a book alongside the likes of Jordi Roca, Pierre Gagnaire and many more culinary heroes n heroines. I don't have pictures of the finished dish so if someone makes it I'll come to your house + eat it with you! (And take a picture!)

"The Cookbook: 46 international chefs were asked to devise recipes that represented filmic moments + films that inspired them."

I developed an OTT gold leaf-laced meringue-not-cream-topped strawberry trifle inspired by Peter Greenaway's uncompromising paean to gluttony, se(ns/x)uality and revenge, The Cook, the Thief, His Wife and Her Lover (1989). 

"Inspired by the aesthetics of the red dining room at Le Hollandais that serves as the centrepiece for much of the film's action, and the adjacent alabaster white restrooms, the visits to which precipitates the ill-fated affair between The Wife (Helen Mirren) and The Lover (Alan Howard), this take on a Strawberry Trifle is decadently over the top and a little stuck in the past... Using an Italian meringue instead of cream gives that high contrast between pristine white and the ruby of the strawberry jelly, as well as a richer velvety texture. The white pepper biscuits add crunch and a little zing to lift the strawberries. And candied angelica, green glace cherries and gold leaf? Well, why not! It's a trifle after all and this was the 80s."

Produced + designed by the amazing @studiohato @hatostoreofficial.

It also features recipes from these legends: @frenchhousesoho @nlborthwick @koyalondon @shukooda @impeccablesandwiches @salon_brixton @nicholasbalfe @zaiyuhasegawa @bratrestaurant @tomos_pp @quovadissoho @jeremyleeqv @centralrest @virgiliocentral @restauranttimraue @timraueofficial @sketchlondon @pierregagnaire @friendsof_towpathcafe @bao_london @erchenchang @dinings_sw3 @anais.vanmanen @thewaterhouseproject @gabrielwaterhouse @topcuvee @brodiemeah @bo.lan_essentially_thai @sex.pesto @edmcilroy @robin.gill.cook @violetcakeslondon @cellercanroca @jordirocasan @r4d_room4dessert @willtgoldfarb @maos.bms @mrmaxvenning  @floreriaatlantico @tatoviovannoni y mucho mas.
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Videos

Tastemade/Castello Cheese: Feed Your Senses

Nukazuke tutorial

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Quick intro to nukazuke (rice bran pickles) for The Sauerkraut People's Fermentation Fest

A post shared by Johnny Drain (@drjohnnydrain) on Jun 20, 2020 at 8:03am PDT

Food Tribe Podcast

Bangkok CityCity Gallery – Lecture

som saa X Dr Johnny Drain: exploration of umami in Thai cuisine

Good Koffee X Dr Johnny Drain: drink development

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