Taking a five-week break from my demanding professional life provided a rare kind of mental space. Although I brought my laptop to Thailand and continued to write, being away from the daily pressures of my job allowed me to look at stefangourmet.com with fresh eyes, to reflect on why I do what I do.
I started to look for the common thread that connects a simple Italian pasta, a high-end sous-vide experiment, and a three-star restaurant review. The result of that reflection is what I am calling the Stefan Gourmet Manifesto. It is not a sudden change in direction, but a codification of the logic I have used since the beginning. It is a guide built on the four pillars of evidence, experience, efficiency, and enjoyment. Whether you have followed me for a decade or just joined recently, this philosophy explains the why behind every recipe and wine pairing I share.
You can read the full manifesto here.
Which of these twelve principles resonates most with your own approach to cooking? Or perhaps there is one you find particularly controversial—the dishwasher spatulas, perhaps? I would love to hear your thoughts in the comments.
In addition to the manifesto, I have also fully updated my About Me page to better reflect this philosophy and provide more background on my culinary journey. I invite you to check it out here.
Stefan's Gourmet Blog 
I particularly appreciate the extraction of every bit of flavor and avoidance of food waste. That’s so important in how I cook, and being conscious of what goes in the compost is vital to our tables and the environment as well.
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Number 10!!! They all make perfect sense, of course, but I do enjoy a good pub and bistro as much as a fine dining experience. Sometimes more, depending on the ambiance. Love this, Stefan! Richard would be impressed.
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I could not agree more across the board. Keep doing what you do, especially if it gives you fulfillment. Happy to have been a “friend” of yours in this blogosphere for over 10 years at this point.
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Dear Stefan,
I couldn’t agree more with the statements in your Manifesto! They are all very valid, obvious, and straight to the point in describing what brings joy to cooking and eating as a hobby-“chef.” You did a great job defining them and expressing exactly how I feel when preparing food for family and friends (though not at the professional level you operate at 😉).
After experiencing sous-vide techniques during my one-day/night internship at De Librije in 2006, I immediately bought a sous-vide machine and soon discovered your blog. Since then, your recipes have guided my experiments and have consistently resulted in perfectly executed dishes when following your instructions.
What I truly admire is how quickly you respond to questions. Even when I’m in doubt on a busy Saturday afternoon while preparing a serious dinner, you reply (probably busy as well). Many thanks for that!
Very often during preparation and cooking, there are decisive moments when I find myself wondering, “How would Stefan think about this?”
What I find truly extraordinary is that you don’t just share your recipes and experiences as another blog post, but that you genuinely do it—as you write—for your readers and followers, to help them and enable them to learn and grow.
Thanks again!
Best regards,
Frans
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Reached this later than many others – have read twice. Quite a Christmas Day present from you to your readers. Makes one think. Agree fully with all but one. ‘Respect for the name’ as you may have gathered has always been a moot point for me – I hate to think how many ‘words’ have been exchanged over the ‘spag bol’ issue with others still laughing about the ‘triviality’ after the ‘discussion’. Extracting flavour and using all one can also rings loud bells. Also fully agree about enjoying both three-star cuisine and genuine simple and ‘street’ food, leaving aside the huge middle . . . With one point I cannot agree – methinks later in life you may understand. I received my MB.BS degrees at a time food was not yet known and accepted as THE most important factor in health – I have now studied this at a tertiary level in the US and Europe since 1994 – still very much ongoing. The gastric biome is related to all of the body and its wellness – above all to the brain and dementia. Utter and absolute fact. I fully agree the current ‘gluten-sensitivity’ issue is almost totally incorrect – but financially so effective to the producers. The knowledge about salt and fat is, thank God, changing but people still do not realize the huge damage sugar can do . . . sorry, shall leave my rant. It is oft difficult to balance tasty food with healthy food . . . I face that ‘battle’ every day . . . but, with somewhat of a laugh >>> I, at my age, am somewhat proof that it works! Huge grin – apologies for ‘sounding off’! Huge thanks again – shall repost!
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