Chapon de Mer Farci

A Simple or Complicated Recipe

There is a perception in cooking that some recipes are more complicated to prepare than others. Usually, recipes with more steps or ingredients are deemed complicated, while those calling for a mere quintet of ingredients are simple.

Less is more. — Ludwig Mies van der Rohe

Yet, this dichotomy oversimplifies the art of cooking, for sometimes it is the minimalist recipe that requires much more finesse, each element demanding to be perfectly balanced, while the so-called ‘complex’ dishes offer a…