Fourth MAD Symposium | What’s Cooking?
24-15 August 2014
What is the border between nature and culture? At the fourth MAD Symposium, curator Alex Atala of restaurant D.O.M. proposed that the border is food. When we consider how to care after our lands, our rivers, and our seas, we can’t forget the importance of human action, and food, in this effort. At What’s Cooking?, we considered how cooking relates to genesis, maybe even the apocalypse, and we saw how cooking is a social tool with the power to transform jailhouses and fundamentally change poor areas like the favelas.
Cooking is interdisciplinary, deeply human, and deeply natural. Let’s continue to think about how our craft has the potential to do a lot more than just give people pleasure and ensure a better future for all of us.
Day One
Tatsuru Rai
Soba Master • Japan
Julian Baggini
Philosopher, Author, and Founding Editor, The Philosopher’s Magazine • UK
Paul Freedman
Professor of History, Yale University • USA
Paola Antonelli
Senior Curator of Architecture and Design, MoMA • USA
Madhur Jaffrey
Actress and Food and Travel Writer • USA/UK
Silvano Giraldin
Pioneer of the art of the table and previous Managing Director, Le Gavroche • UK
Alain Senderens
Chef, Senderens and L’Archestrate • France
Olivier Roellinger
Chef, Maisons de Bricourt • France
Fulvio Pierangelini
Chef; formerly at Gambero Rosso • Italy
Tatiana Levha
Chef/Restaurateur, Le Servan • France
Anya von Bremzen
Food Writer • Russia
Alex Atala
Chef, D.O.M. • Brazil
Day Two
Isabel Soares
Founder/Director, Fruta Feia • Brazil
Ron Finley
Guerrilla Gardener/Urban Farmer and Founder, Ron Finley Project • USA
Rorion Gracie
Jiu-Jitsu Grand Master and Co-Founder, Ultimate Fighting Championship • Brazil
Katia Barbosa & Renato Meirelles
Chef, Aconchego Carioca • Brazil
Writer & Founder, Data Popular • Brazil
Eyvind Hellstrøm
Chef, previously at Bagatelle • Norway
Darina Allen & Rachel Allen
Chef/Author/Founder, Ballymaloe Cookery School • Ireland
Food Writer and Television Presenter • Ireland
Adeilson Lopes da Silva & André Mifano
Ecologist • Brazil
Chef, Vito • Brazil
Jayme Santos Junior & David Hertz
Head Judge of the Court of Criminal Enforcement • Brazil
Chef/Owner, Gastromotiva • Brazil
Jeremiah Tower
Chef, Stars • USA
Chris Cosentino
Chef, previously at Incanto • USA
Albert Adria
Chef/Owner, Tickets and Pakta; previously Chef, elBulli • Spain
Pierre Koffmann
Chef, La Tante Claire • France
Roy Choi & Daniel Patterson
Chef/Owner, Kogi; Host, The Chef Show • USA
Chef, Alta Restaurant Group • USA
Christine Muhlke
Editor at Large, Bon Appétit; Founder, Bureau X • USA