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Knickerbocker Glory: A Chef's Guide to Innovation in the Kitchen and Beyond by Robinson, Matthew (2013) Hardcover
Life is filled with wow moments; those moments when we see something new that really impresses us and gets our attention. These wow moments make our personal lives better and more interesting. The businesses that create these wow moments, or innovations, are typically more successful. But, what is the key to creating these innovations? How are innovations born? How can simple connections between various things be made so that something new is created? Are there steps to creating new innovations and wow moments? The answers to these questions are in this book. Knickerbocker A Chef's Guide to Innovation in the Kitchen and Beyond is a book about learning to innovate using the culinary arts as inspiration. More specifically, using a little known dessert - The Knickerbocker Glory - as a model to teach a simple innovation process and guide the reader through the journey from stated purpose to wow moment. The text, infographics and insets explore how great ideas can be created, shows the importance of getting ideas off paper and into reality and discusses the importance of a team effort in innovation. The book rolls back the curtain on the specific steps to use when implementing any type of innovation program. Knickerbocker A Chef's Guide to Innovation in the Kitchen and Beyond starts by introducing The Knickerbocker Glory, a tall, layered ice cream concoction eaten with a very long spoon. Although today it is seen as a classic British ice cream dessert, its origins may not be truly British but American. But what makes this dessert a great story and model for innovation? It is the story of a reinvention. The American sundae, call the Knickerbocker, reinvented for a British audience. And since the original recipe for The Knickerbocker Glory has not been recorded, it is an ideal model from which to explore innovation because of all the possibilities it represents. With a basic understanding of The Knickerbocker Glory, the book walks the reader through a process from which innovations can be born. The discussion starts with the simple steps a chef might take to create something new in the kitchen, covering the importance of having a goal, where inspiration for such a goal might come from and how experimentation is used to reach the goal. From there, a deeper definition of innovation is revealed and the six steps of innovation called the ..".ates" are defined. They are Contemplate and State; Stimulate; Formulate, Ideate, Create and Iterate. A description and instruction for each step is given in the book. The ..".ates" are then applied to The Knickerbocker Glory model; examples of how each step can be applied to create something new are provided. The journey to wow moments starts with stating the purpose. The book then details how a variety of sources of inspiration (both related and unrelated) can be found and applied to The Knickerbocker Glory model and makes the point that good stimulus and inspiration is the foundation for new and richer ideas. Examples discussed include how fusion cuisine, molecular gastronomy or the more far-fetched Apple Computer Company might be leveraged to make a new Knickerbocker Glory. Following this, the origin of The Knickerbocker Glory is used to show how inspiration can be turned into new ideas. The importance of making these ideas into real "products" and repeating them until they are perfected is also discussed. Finally, the book discusses the importance of innovating as a team and details a few insights about cooking that demonstrate that even small changes to a recipe can bring about big changes to a dish, illustrating that it might not have to be something big to bring about something that is very innovative.
- GenresCookbooks
Hardcover
First published September 1, 2013
358 people want to read
About the author
Matthew Robinson
2 books5 followersMatthew Robinson has spent the last eighteen years as
a scientist, product developer, and spokesperson for
the food industry, interpreting the complexities of various topics into easy and usable information. He innovates every day, creating WOW moments in his kitchen and beyond. He has a Master of Science degree in Nutrition Science from the University of Georgia, a diploma from the professional culinary program at the
French Culinary Institute in New York City, and
is trained in a variety of innovation techniques.
a scientist, product developer, and spokesperson for
the food industry, interpreting the complexities of various topics into easy and usable information. He innovates every day, creating WOW moments in his kitchen and beyond. He has a Master of Science degree in Nutrition Science from the University of Georgia, a diploma from the professional culinary program at the
French Culinary Institute in New York City, and
is trained in a variety of innovation techniques.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
October 7, 2013
"Anybody who believes that the way to a man's heart is through his stomach flunked geography." - Robert Byrne
The original Knickerbocker Glory dessert is ice cream, crushed raspberries, chocolate syrup, whipped cream and brandied cherries – served and layered in a tall thin glass. I have never heard of Knickerbocker Glory before getting this book but the idea discovering another yummy dessert intrigued me. The book begins with a basic overview of the Knickerbocker Glory, how the author came to discover and write about it and then delves into a bit of home cook innovation and dessert design.
I am NOT a creative cook. I can manipulate and improve upon already written and tasted recipes, but I can’t whip up concoctions on the fly. I wish I could. This book is supposed to help people create their own Knickerbocker yummys, while giving you plenty of examples along the way. There are so many examples I cannot imagine ever coming up with something else. It’s like they thought of everything. So I don’t think it will help me be creative… but maybe it will help you.
The examples of readymade desserts range from the simple Strawberry Shortcake which includes vanilla ice cream, angel food cake, and strawberry gelatin, and strawberries. Then you have the unusual like the Japan which contains sesame brittle, sweet potato, black sesame ice cream and honey cake. I prefer the simple to the unusual and so do my men. They asked me to make the Grasshopper and the Peanut Butter and Jelly. I did, with some shortcuts along the way.
For the Peanut Butter and Jelly I used canned whipped cream (gasps! Sacrilege!) I did make the homemade peanut butter ice cream and raspberry bread pudding. I skipped the bananas and salted peanuts. The ice cream was VERY rich. Too rich for me, but my son enjoyed it. I liked the raspberry bread pudding on its own, it was absolutely delicious. Combining all these ingredients for the Knickerbocker tall dessert was just too much sweet and richness for me. I am glad I chose to tone mine down.
The Grasshopper calls for homemade chocolate syrup (I used Hershey’s) and your own whipped cream, and again, I used the canned whipped cream. I made the homemade milk chocolate pudding and chocolate cake… bought the mint chocolate chip ice cream. Again, the dessert was too rich and sweet for me. The cake was heavier and more dense than I like, more like I brownie, but delicious. No one in my family ended up putting all the ingredients together… we all made our own selective stacks of sugar.
The Good: Easy to follow instructions and illustrations with some interesting and delicious ideas. I also liked that the portion sizes were perfect for our small family.
The bad: The book was not easy to keep open and follow in the kitchen while cooking. Even in my cookbook stand the book closed.
All in all I think pretty much everyone can find something to inspire them, or they can replicate one of the many already created desserts. Yummy!
Cherise Everhard, October 2013
Received this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
The original Knickerbocker Glory dessert is ice cream, crushed raspberries, chocolate syrup, whipped cream and brandied cherries – served and layered in a tall thin glass. I have never heard of Knickerbocker Glory before getting this book but the idea discovering another yummy dessert intrigued me. The book begins with a basic overview of the Knickerbocker Glory, how the author came to discover and write about it and then delves into a bit of home cook innovation and dessert design.
I am NOT a creative cook. I can manipulate and improve upon already written and tasted recipes, but I can’t whip up concoctions on the fly. I wish I could. This book is supposed to help people create their own Knickerbocker yummys, while giving you plenty of examples along the way. There are so many examples I cannot imagine ever coming up with something else. It’s like they thought of everything. So I don’t think it will help me be creative… but maybe it will help you.
The examples of readymade desserts range from the simple Strawberry Shortcake which includes vanilla ice cream, angel food cake, and strawberry gelatin, and strawberries. Then you have the unusual like the Japan which contains sesame brittle, sweet potato, black sesame ice cream and honey cake. I prefer the simple to the unusual and so do my men. They asked me to make the Grasshopper and the Peanut Butter and Jelly. I did, with some shortcuts along the way.
For the Peanut Butter and Jelly I used canned whipped cream (gasps! Sacrilege!) I did make the homemade peanut butter ice cream and raspberry bread pudding. I skipped the bananas and salted peanuts. The ice cream was VERY rich. Too rich for me, but my son enjoyed it. I liked the raspberry bread pudding on its own, it was absolutely delicious. Combining all these ingredients for the Knickerbocker tall dessert was just too much sweet and richness for me. I am glad I chose to tone mine down.
The Grasshopper calls for homemade chocolate syrup (I used Hershey’s) and your own whipped cream, and again, I used the canned whipped cream. I made the homemade milk chocolate pudding and chocolate cake… bought the mint chocolate chip ice cream. Again, the dessert was too rich and sweet for me. The cake was heavier and more dense than I like, more like I brownie, but delicious. No one in my family ended up putting all the ingredients together… we all made our own selective stacks of sugar.
The Good: Easy to follow instructions and illustrations with some interesting and delicious ideas. I also liked that the portion sizes were perfect for our small family.
The bad: The book was not easy to keep open and follow in the kitchen while cooking. Even in my cookbook stand the book closed.
All in all I think pretty much everyone can find something to inspire them, or they can replicate one of the many already created desserts. Yummy!
Cherise Everhard, October 2013
Received this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
August 26, 2013
`Innovation is a process': Philosophy from the Kitchen
Author Matthew Robinson has created a book (with the aid of illustrator Todd Miller and contributor, author chef Andrea Lynn) that takes a concept - in this case `Innovation' - and makes it a lesson rewarded with the accoutrements of some delicious edibles. Robinson has impressive credentials: hw has been active in the food industry as an innovator, scientist, product developer and spokesperson and has a master of science degree from the University of Georgia in Nutrition Science and a diploma from the professional culinary program at the French Culinary Institute in New York City. He also has a fine knack for teaching a concept that is applicable to all forms of interaction with the world at large by offering an excellent course in improving food created in our kitchens that produce the WOW! Effect. It works very, very well.
To keep the comments short, Robinson defines innovation and how to get there with 6 stages that follow the path form deciding what you want to do, getting inspired and experimenting until you achieve the desired WOW! effect. Those stages are 1) State - what are you trying to accomplish?, 2) Stimulate - important facts and information, 3) Formulate - organizing the facts into themes or opportunity areas, 4) Ideate - putting ideas to paper, 5) Create - bring the ideas to life, turning ideas into real products, and 6) Iterate - perfecting the products. It is easy to see where Robinson wants to take us - form the basic idea of enhancing a culinary product that makes it uniquely our own innovation, and transferring that new knowledge into the way we approach all aspects of how we live and work.
Then comes the fun! The Knickerbocker Glory is a dessert treat served in a soda/pilsner glass - layer upon layer of goodies such as ice cream, cake, fruit curd, crunch, and cream. What is provided here is not only the various ideas of how to select the layers that will make the dessert seem to have endless variations but also the recipes that go along with how to make every layer ingredient selected for your special final product. This is a very tasty way to nudge yourself into the vein of Innovation.
Grady Harp
Author Matthew Robinson has created a book (with the aid of illustrator Todd Miller and contributor, author chef Andrea Lynn) that takes a concept - in this case `Innovation' - and makes it a lesson rewarded with the accoutrements of some delicious edibles. Robinson has impressive credentials: hw has been active in the food industry as an innovator, scientist, product developer and spokesperson and has a master of science degree from the University of Georgia in Nutrition Science and a diploma from the professional culinary program at the French Culinary Institute in New York City. He also has a fine knack for teaching a concept that is applicable to all forms of interaction with the world at large by offering an excellent course in improving food created in our kitchens that produce the WOW! Effect. It works very, very well.
To keep the comments short, Robinson defines innovation and how to get there with 6 stages that follow the path form deciding what you want to do, getting inspired and experimenting until you achieve the desired WOW! effect. Those stages are 1) State - what are you trying to accomplish?, 2) Stimulate - important facts and information, 3) Formulate - organizing the facts into themes or opportunity areas, 4) Ideate - putting ideas to paper, 5) Create - bring the ideas to life, turning ideas into real products, and 6) Iterate - perfecting the products. It is easy to see where Robinson wants to take us - form the basic idea of enhancing a culinary product that makes it uniquely our own innovation, and transferring that new knowledge into the way we approach all aspects of how we live and work.
Then comes the fun! The Knickerbocker Glory is a dessert treat served in a soda/pilsner glass - layer upon layer of goodies such as ice cream, cake, fruit curd, crunch, and cream. What is provided here is not only the various ideas of how to select the layers that will make the dessert seem to have endless variations but also the recipes that go along with how to make every layer ingredient selected for your special final product. This is a very tasty way to nudge yourself into the vein of Innovation.
Grady Harp
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews