"I consider myself as a chef who connects with other fields in theory and practice. My current interests lie in this combining of food and art" - German chef Felix Bröcker discusses his global culinary adventures.
The culinary originality of Felix Bröcker seen here with Rirkrit Tiravanija at Art Basel 2015 - image credit Tobias Roth
You are chef but have studied philosophy and film as well. It is quiet a dynamic career mix, tell us more? After working for several years in Switzerland, Portugal, Australia and Germany I wanted to deepen my theoretical knowledge. This is why I attended the Hotel Management School in Heidelberg.
I knew there is a lot more to cooking than food which is what I wanted to discover.
To get more theoretical views I started to buy a lot of historic as well as modern cookbooks. Learning more about the social analyses of nutrition along with the psychological and cultural studies which observe human behaviour towards food.
After travelling the world as a chef I found many ways to connect my studies to my interest in cooking with writing, film and even the possibility of food being considered as art.
This led to my current Master in Curatorial Studies. Which has allowed me to mix my practical knowledge of cooking with art theories.
How would you want your career to be perceived as? In all I consider myself a chef who connects with other fields in theory and practice. My current interests lie in combining food and art, along with examining the works of chefs and artists who use this combination. I feel art theory is helpful to think about the food many chefs create today especially with chefs like Rene Redzepi, Massimo Bottura or Andoni Aduriz.
Tell us more about your culinary adventures? Highlights have been my years abroad. Where I learnt that it is more interesting to develop menus than to prepare meals. It provides the opportunity to create a food experience.
Recent events were cooking with Rirkrit Tiravanija at Art Basel and with Peter Kubelka at Staedelschule, Frankfurt. Both are artists, who include cooking in their practice.
I have also been a part of scientific projects which examine concepts of Physics and Psychology in food.
The culinary originality of Felix Bröcker - image credit Florian Bolk
What have been the challenges of your career? A real challenge has been deciding to pursue this a path somewhere between being a practical chef and projects that combine cooking, art or science.
If you could name your own planet what would you call it? Wow you guys think big. I do not need my own planet or to name one. As everyone looks at the planet earth through their own eyes, for me it is a place where food is all around...
Words of advice for the youth of the planet? Do what you feel that you have to do. I think that is more important than doing what others consider or think is a big career.
About: You can find out more about Felix Bröcker on delix.biz.