Alif Tree
French Cuisine

I choose menu 01.

Inspired by a great classic, with easy preparation, it’s just what I need. But for the wine, sorry, Alif, I’ll handle it myself.
Alright, your recommended Muscadet has made progress since you started aging it “sur lie.”
But I don’t have any on hand. And I don't think it's worth going out to find it.
I prefer the one you suggest on menu 05, a Coteaux d'Aix. I must have a bottle somewhere. Ok?
So, what did you suggest for menu 01?
Ah, yes: Kniepper (?) Coltrane, The Orb, Gershwin, Eno...
No, look, at least while I'm cooking, I'll let yours play, then we'll see...

Released in 2005 (despite the chef's website crediting it to 2006) French Cuisine is served by Alif Tree, a French multi-instrumentalist and sound manipulator, based in Marseille.
It follows a couple of other long-distance works, but it's the first for Compost, generally attentive in their roster choices.
I had promised myself to avoid the obvious reference to the title. Then I took a leap into monsieur Alif's virtual home and discovered it's not a prank: the young man indeed offers 5 menus on the site.
With their respective, simple recipes. And a choice between non-alcoholic drinks and wines, accompanied by a selection of suggested records.
So I'm grappling with: Green salad with fennel and pine nuts, Salmon tartare with soy sprouts, Chinese nougat (or tartare lukoum)
Play.

And the voice of Nina Simone, immersed in the icy warmth of downtempo treatment, begins to keep me company in this little culinary adventure.
I hope my attempt, which I will test on innocent victims tonight, turns out pleasant.
Pleasant, but not cloying (as often happens with many similar productions) is undoubtedly this record.
With its somewhat opaque, at times nocturnal soul. Preferring dilation and undulating, flexible progression. Taking advantage of the voices of prestigious "guests," along with the author's own, to transform the atmospheres evoked by the balanced dosage of ingredients into "songs."

Nina Simone, as mentioned, for the opening dish (I had said I wouldn't insist).
And then Shirley Horn, Anna Karina, Claude Nougaro.
Who supports, on bases seasoned with electronics subservient to the cause, the steps of 10 tracks that broadly sift through references to jazz, French song, memories of crackling sonic corridors first marked by 'MoWax. Crossed by a soul attitude, assisted by horns, a discreet piano dropping notes, and at times by carefully measured strings. And then Spanish guitars on synthetic drumming for “L'Amor Nunca Muere,” the most ethnic-tasting course in the "Marseillaise's" work, besides the closing track, “Mélismes Extatiques.” Which lives up to its title across 14 minutes that draw on repetition to accompany us out, resorting to typically minimalist but here delicate and liquid evocation of a very oriental gamelan.
Yes, it’s true.
Judging by the ingredients, it's easy to fear that French cuisine, Alif Tree's version, conceals a mess or reheated recycling.
The kitchen is a place of uncertain balances, of passion, and attention to detail. And only true cooks are able to blend the elements without exaggeration, gifting new and personal flavors to the same ingredients. I think we can call it style, no?

Well, Alif Tree demonstrates having one, and no eagerness to stand out through astonishing tricks. Returning to my own kitchen, I hope that the dishes I serve shortly won’t force me to go down the street to recover with a take-away.
Dining, perhaps Chinese, to the notes of “French Cuisine.”