Creativity in Cooking Can Solve Our Biggest Challenges: José Andrés at TEDxMidAtlantic

A native of Spain, José Andrés is the chef/owner of ThinkFoodGroup, and responsible of many award-winning dining concepts. In this emotive talk, he encourages and shares his desire to apply the creativity that is often used in the kitchen to create amazing dishes that feed a few, to help find solutions to feed the world.

Well, I don't know about you

but today, I learned many things.

I learned that, actually,

astronomers don't have
all the ingredients with them,

or that they don't know

many of the ingredients
in the universe.

Cooks... We do.
(Laughter)

And it's funny that
she's using liquid nitrogen,

when I use liquid nitrogen to cook,

and I'm so happy we found water

in very distant and far away countries --

very far away planets.

With water, I can cook --

I know I have а job... forever.

Why am I here?

I would love to believe it's because

I have something important
to share with you,

but I have a feeling
that all my TED friends,

in a very busy weekend
in Washington,

they wanted the excuse of --

why ask me for a reservation --

They invite me to speak,

[so] they go to other places.
(Applause)

But we are here to talk about

more important things.

I'm a chef --

I'm a chef and I cook for the few,

but, really, I want to be
cooking for the world.

I want to create the spark.

And how do we create
the spark being a chef?

We create the spark
through creativity.

I know lunch is coming.
(Laughter)

Are you hungry?
(Laughter)

Sometimes, guys,
to be creative,

the only thing
we have to be doing is --

Why not?
Looking at the stars,

maybe, Andromeda,

or maybe, a far away galaxy

it's a way to get inspired.

I just got inspired

by these amazing presentations.

Sometimes, you only have to do

simple things as these.

I'm going to start now.

Why? Because the world

needs me to start.

But creativity doesn't happen,

you know, in the middle of a beach,

doing nothing, under
a palm tree... No!

I've never created
anything in the beach,

I only get burned by the sun.
(Laughter)

Actually, creativity will only happen

when I'm surrounded

by high energy environments

that keep all of these ideas

coming and coming,
and tip your life!

Well, sometimes, to look

for new creative ways

we don't need to look
into the big things,

we need to concentrate
in the small ones.

Sometimes, we need to be
looking into the big ones,

because [that] can be
what creates a small idea.

What is big can be small,

and what's small can become huge!

We have no time to waste,

but in order to be creative,

people of the world,

we have to make sure

that we will not be afraid

to look beyond the horizon

that we don't know
what's behind.

To take really
that challenge of saying,

"I'm going to move away
from my comfort zone

and I'm going to reach beyond

what I don't know."

This is really how
we become creative.

Where, sometimes,
light can be

what makes us blind,

or what gives us the light

to help us begin
with a new creation.

Sometimes, using
a simple piece of paper,

writing one word or one phrase

can begin something amazing.

But here is...
what important things start.

Sometimes, very simple ideas --

very simple ideas
can achieve fascinating things.

Take a look at something like

what we have in front of us

every day of our lives.

How many of you have
had a glass of water today?

Great! What did you do with it,
besides drinking it?

You didn't talk to it,
you didn't ask,

What can I do today
with this glass of water

that has never been done before?

Well, [the] funny thing is

that if I take risks,

and if I move away
from my comfort zone,

that meaning not going
to the market to get inspired,

or opening a cookbook
to get inspiration,

but maybe, going to Harvard or MIT,

where I have no clue

what those scientists
are talking about -- (Laughter)

but I'm taking the risk
of making a fool of myself

only because it's worth it --

and I understand

that I can defy gravity --

And that I can control the water

by understanding the pressure --

the low pressure that is formed inside.

And understanding a little bit

about water surface tension --

Wow, I am being creative,

right here, right now!

At the end, guys, you know,

a simple ingredient, like water,

can be helping me to come up

with something fascinating

from a very old ingredient

-- and water is quite old.

But at the low end,

I can learn new ways to cook

in a clean and efficient way.

You know, guys, we've been
cooking with fire

for hundred of thousands of years.

That was almost the beginning
of creativity in cooking! Yes?

But it's so funny.

Today, hundred of thousands of years

after we began controlling fire,

we use that same fire

to cook on a Sunday for our friends.

Why? Because
we're rich and powerful,

and we have the charcoal,

and we have the money
to buy the meat

that can feed our friends,

and because we are men,
and we know how to cook. (Laughter)

But this is not laughing [matter].

Hundred of millions
of years of evolution,

reaching to the stars,

going to the moon --

and still people are living lives,

as we used to live them

hundred of thousands of years ago.

This is how the advance
of humanity has helped us --

Having people
who have achieved fire --

what takes me a second,

it takes them hours --

They have to search for the wood --

these girls get in danger

because they're alone in the forest,

in the middle of nowhere.

They can be raped,

because they're looking for the fuel
to cook their food.

They have no time to go to school,

so they have no future
because they receive no education.

Wow! And here we come... to corn;

a grain that is everywhere
to be found in America.

For thousands of years,
civilizations have been living around corn.

Let me show you creativity.

With corn we feed the cattle,

when, actually, we should
feed the cattle with grass.

It's smarter, but no,
we use it to feed those cattle

that will produce meat.

And with corn we are able
to come out with oil,

that is going to fry those potatoes.

And with corn we can make syrup

that help us to make ketchup.

And believe it or not,

with corn, also, we can make
a great soda! Wow!

With corn we're even able
to make the paper!

Creativity at it best!
(Laughter)

I cannot beat that, guys!
(Laughter)

So, the fun part is that

I could be telling you

how many things
are wrong about these,

but the truth is that
a burger is a paradigm

of the complexities
of how we feed humanity!

But I'm not only going
to be blaming them,

we are all here to be blamed.

It's a responsibility of everyone
to be feeding people.

Actually, you know one thing?

You think that people
coming to my restaurant,

me, the great chef, José Andrés,

I am not part of the best city problem?

Or, you know what
about the environment?

Who put more CO2,
me or the fast food companies?

A fast food restaurant receives

two deliveries a week if [even so].

Do you know how many I receive?

Sometimes 50 or 60.

I need to be pragmatic
if we want to feed the world.

Actually, I put more CO2
in the environment

than maybe those
fast food companies

that sometimes we complain about.

But no, I'm not being paid by them,

I only know that
I have to be pragmatic

if I want my boys to be respected,

and we can use creativity

to bring everyone to the table,

and bring riches -- Are you with me?

So here --

I'm going to show you my creativity.

Who likes almonds?

Come on! Are you hungry?
Audience: Yeah!

Are you hungry up there?

Who likes cheese?
Audience: Yeah!

Almond and cheese, right?
That's simple!

Piece of cake!

Let me show you what I do

when I'm willing to move away

from my comfort zone --

I'm pushing the envelope --

Let me show you creativity my way.

(Music)
I think this is the first cooking video

in the history of TED!

Almonds are being fried --

Olive oil --

Those almonds are brown, tasty.

We add water; the same water

that we may find
in a very distant planet,

in another galaxy.

And here we're going
to be blending those almonds.

And we're going to be freezing
that almond puree.

And we're going to use technology.

We're going to be making
this amazing puree of almond,

like almond butter.

Now, we're going
to be using some cream

and we're going to be mixing again.

Any food critic here?

Great, I'm lucky.

And now, we add liquid nitrogen.

And take a look when we move away
from the comfort zone --

What we can do for the few --

By getting a ladle,
a beautiful metal ladle --

We're able to introduce it
into this milk of almonds,

and a very thin layer is going
to be attached to the ladle.

We reintroduce the ladle.

We change the temperature,

and we're going to be able
to separate the almonds.

The almonds were hard,
they become liquid,

they become hard again,
but now, we change the texture!

We have the power to do that!

We have the power
to use creativity!

And you can do one,
and you can do another,

and this is telling me
that there is hope!

Because we can do
amazing things

with simple ingredients.

If we apply heat, it melts again.

We get the cheese,

and we're going to show you

how to make a mousse,
that, actually, if we want it,

I can make that same mousse

without cream and fat,

only water... only water!

No more fat in mousses!
(Laughter)

But this one has cheese.

We make the mousse

and, then, we fill up
the beautiful almond cups.

People of America,

two humble ingredients

elevated to a new dimension, great!

(Applause)

So, this is creativity for a chef,

but how can I put this creativity

that only feeds the few
to feed the many?

Brillat-Savarin, 1826,
one of the most amazing

food philosophers in
the history of mankind --

"The destiny of the nations
depends on the manner

in which they feed themselves."

Wow! I think our politicians,
but also ourselves --

We've forgotten such an amazing,
powerful, powerful phrase.

You know, almost two centuries
after he wrote this,

we still face, sometimes in America,
but around the world,

obesity and hunger.

How is it possible that
some, we can be so overweight,

while others barely know
what to put into their mouths?

But you know, I would love
to talk to you about

how to produce food,

but today I want to talk to you about

how we cook and handle that food,

because it can be equally important.

We need to make sure
that we start --

We need to stop throwing money
into the problem,

and really start investing money
into true solutions.

And understanding
the power of food,

and the power of cooking
and creativity,

this could be a great beginning.

Take a look at this.

This is Haiti.

Do you see the garbage?

Where do you think this garbage
came from, people? Where?

It came from overseas.

Yes, we have goodwill;
we went there to help.

But look at all the trash

we brought with us
in the process of helping!

No one is really even thinking about it.

How to take care of the garbage!

Creativity, and cooking
and thinking about food,

can help us to move this forward.

I have this friend who had

this simple, humble idea

of getting a newspaper --

If you're Republican you know
which one to use --

If you're a Democrat, too.
(Laughter)

And he had a party
but he didn't have a lot of money,

and he needed a creative way

to be saving money.

And it was at this time,

that such a simple thing

as grabbing a piece of paper
-- a simple piece of paper --

and transform the beautiful paper

into something so simple

as a place to put peanuts,

like a plate to hold the peanuts

that will allow you to eat them,

and also, have a place

to put the garbage next.
(Laughter)

Simple ideas, people,

can be helping to feed the world,

but we need to keep thinking,

and thinking hard.

A newspaper can only
be the beginning.

But take a look at this,

at what we have here --

Here we have clean cookstoves.

A woman cooking with
wood and charcoal,

but those cookstoves
are cleaner now.

Cleaner means that, even if
she's using wood and charcoal,

she's using, probably,
60 to 70 percent less.

So, by using less
we cut less trees,

by leaving trees in the forest,

the rain, that we're supposed
to be celebrating

because rain means water,

and water means life.

That rain doesn't create life.

That rain creates death

because we cut the trees,

and there's nothing,
no roots to give life to that soil,

and when the water comes down
from the mountains,

it takes away lives, homes,

and the only fertile soil
that we have left... Wow!

And we could be using this [paper]
to make briquettes.

With paper and organic matter

that can help us to have
clean cookstoves

that are part of the solution --

feeding people,
giving them opportunities,

taking care of the environment,

all with a simple idea.

I use many clean cookstoves,

some use briquettes,

other ones use pellets,

other ones use charcoal,

but [with] other ones,
we use alcohol.

There's hope,
we know how to do it,

we know how to feed people,

but we need to be really investing

in true research and development,

because research and development

cannot be only part of the big
corporations of the world.

If we don't start
applying creativity,

research and development

into the third world,

we will never have hope

for those people
that need it the most.

And this was my simple contribution.

Why we don't cook with
zero emission of CO2?

Solar kitchens,
it's not the only way.

I believe in many ways,

but this is almost the dream way.

I went there, many times,

not trying to impose
the white man philosophy,

but trying to listen.

Because these people
in the third world,

they only want from us,

not our pity,
but our respect,

and they want us
to listen to them,

so we can really help them,

and not imposing solutions

that no one believes in.

And I did a simple thing --

Creativity --

The same creativity
that uses the sun.

A creativity that I used
to feed six people.

I painted this in black,

with black we attract the sun,

with the sun we're able to steam water
very, very quick --

as quick as that --

And forgive me for the video,
it was with my phone.

Video: "I'm cooking lentils

and I'm only using the sun! Wow!

Clean cookstoves are
a great way to cook."

(Applause)

Creativity in cooking can help solve,

can really help solve

the biggest challenges in our world.

Creativity can be the way
to teach people again

how to feed themselves,

by giving them the power

of knowing how to cook.

Through education
we can achieve that.

Education and creativity will be key.

If we really give people,
like in Haiti,

the tools through creativity
to feed themselves,

the world has hope.

Cooking is what makes us
uniquely human,

it's what differentiate us

from everyone else on this Earth.

Creativity and cooking, guys,
can give us hope

that we may have
a better world tomorrow.

I would like to use another phrase
of Brillat-Savarin,

"Show me what you eat,

and I will tell you who you are."

An important phrase,

but I will ask Mr. Brillat-Savarin

to allow me, in a humble way,

to help me update
this powerful phrase.

I think from now on,
it should be,

"Show me how you cook,

and I will tell you
who you really are."

My name is José Andrés,

I know I feed the few

but I really want to be
part of the solution

of feeding the world.

Thank you very much.

(Applause)