"Aphrodisiac cooking with the rotary evaporator" – Martin Suter is introduced to the secrets of rotary evaporation
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| A red liquid is rotating in the rotary evaporator. Three men put their heads together, their eyes concentrated on the instrument – one of them is Martin Suter, the best selling Swiss author. "Ah yes, very good! Now I only have one problem, how can I achieve a higher cooling performance? At home the water temperature is 21°C in the tap!" Christian Zwicky and Matthias Schacht find a solution for everything and Martin Suter seems very satisfied, as the rotary evaporation is really "quick"! Maravan, the Tamil culinary artist would be amazed and Andrea, his shrewd business partner, would be impressed – and Martin Suter? He mischievously tries the blood orange essence that has been prepared in the laboratory at BUCHI. "I must say Maravan would have cooked even better if he had been introduced to the secrets of rotary evaporation by BUCHI." The Tamil kitchen helper Maravan is the main figure in Martin Suter's latest novel Der Koch. With his aphrodisiac menus he gets people to do incredible things. "As I was looking for a new subject for a novel, I asked myself: what would happen if somebody had an ability to control other people. Starting with this initial idea, I arrived at the concept of aphrodisiac cuisine because if someone can control his guests erotically, then he has a lot of power over them." | |
In the conversation with Christian Zwicky, Martin Suter talks about his experiments with distillation equipment. In his bodega in Spain he makes olive oil, wine and schnapps. In Guatemala, where he lives with his family from time to time, he even grows coffee. "I have found out how to decaffeinate the coffee. During this period, our kitchen in Guatemala quickly became a laboratory". In Suter's latest book Der Koch the rotary evaporator plays an important role. BUCHI is of course extremely interested in how the best selling author arrived at the idea that it is possible to cook aphrodiasiac menus using a rotary evaporator. Suter had to quiz himself a bit to answer this question. "What fascinates me is the possibility of obtaining essences using a high tech process." For this reason Suter also plants lavender, among other things, on his land in Ibiza. The best selling author produces ethereal oils or hydrosols from the lavender. During his research into molecular cuisine Suter found out that it is possible to undertake this task in a very modern manner. Molecular preparation is supposed to accelerate the ero effect of the dishes in Suter's novel Der Koch. "The rotary evaporator is an important tool in molecular cuisine. For this reason it was clear to me that the rotary evaporator is indispensable. Magic is made possible by this instrument – even if you are not a great magician." |
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However there is definitely magic at work in Maravan's culinary arts. He tries to obtain the essence of the fragrance of his youth with the aid of the rotary evaporator. "I think the issue in all my books is in some way the search for new identities. That is, the question of what I am, what I could yet be." Suter is convinced that it is possible to apply this motive of transformation to food. "The identity of a lemon can also change, we saw that earlier in the laboratory and suddenly we came upon the essence of this lemon". Suter's fascination for the rotary evaporation process is therefore closely linked to his work as an author – it is the search for new identities! It was a busy morning for the famous author. After touring glass production, he spent time in the laboratory and finally he read to the workforce from his book Der Koch. "I have found BUCHI to be a business with a very strong and carefully maintained corporate culture. I really like it here. Keep doing what you are doing, as I think you are doing it very well! At the end of the conversation there was only the one question left open: Beatles or Rolling Stones? |
