| Have you ever been to a Furr's or Wyatt's | | | | a random fashion the chef uses texture to add |
| cafeteria? As you went through the hot line were | | | | appeal. Blackened ahi tuna atop a gaufrette potato |
| you intrigued with what you saw? Did you ask for | | | | with pickled red ginger and a dollop of green |
| the grey spinach because your mother was with | | | | wasabi mayonaise is another example. |
| you? Did you hold back on the enchiladas hoping | | | | Color |
| they would bring a new pan so you would not | | | | Color is also extremely important, we know what |
| have to scrape up the left overs? Which dessert | | | | most foods look like in their natural state. If a |
| did you pick out when you got to that place on | | | | plate or platter changes that color to something |
| the line? | | | | we do not expect from our experience we will |
| I do not mean to put them down but there is a | | | | tend to be very cautious about trying it. Working |
| reason why you are willing to go and pay good | | | | with different colors of the same genre like a fruit |
| money to eat in a nice restaurant that specializes | | | | platter the chef can assemble contrasting or |
| in not only taste but also in appearance. We eat | | | | complimentary colors to please the eye. Along |
| with our eyes as much as with our mouths. The | | | | with this the way that something is shaped or cut |
| foods can be very tasty but if they are poorly | | | | can add to the appeal. |
| presented we tend to pass them by. | | | | Unique Combination's |
| I took my nearly three year old daughter out to | | | | Along with color, a chef can use unique |
| a very fancy restaurant some years back. All | | | | combination's of types of foods. This is where |
| during the meal the waiter passed us by on his | | | | creativity and knowledge come together. |
| way to other tables with a fantastic looking | | | | Seemingly odd combination's of foods can be |
| dessert cart. Every time he went by, Aimee's | | | | presented colorfully in a way that stops you with |
| eyes would get very big with anticipation. I kept | | | | a "wow that is an odd combination," type thought. |
| bribing her with the fact that he would bring it to | | | | Imagine the white orange of shrimp floating in a |
| us when she finished her dinner. When the meal | | | | shallow pool of deep red lingonberry sauce with |
| finished he had the audacity to ask; "What would | | | | bits of roughly chopped basil leaf scattered |
| you like for dessert?" with out bringing the cart | | | | randomly about. It may be different from your |
| with him. My reply was, "The dessert, the | | | | previous experience, but not in an unpleasant way. |
| dessert, you know that cart you have been | | | | Assaulting the Senses |
| teasing us with all night, where is the cart?" We | | | | Sometimes the combination's will be totally at |
| had already eaten with our eyes. | | | | odds with what you would think should go |
| The chef lessons from this are that presentation | | | | together. Like a seabass marinated in southern |
| is the most important aspect of foods. The chain | | | | barbecue sauce or a glazed strawberry dessert |
| restaurants are told that the foods pictured on | | | | on a puree of sno-peas (just saw the picture) We |
| their menu should look the same as the picture | | | | recently served a black cod (sablefish) entree on |
| when it is delivered to the table. In a fancy | | | | a bed of coarse teriyaki flavored poblano and |
| restaurant you are paying for the fact that the | | | | yellow beet slaw. So foods and food groups that |
| food will be presented a way that it is consumed | | | | might seem radically different can be combined |
| with your eyes long before you actually taste it. | | | | with great visual effect. |
| These are some things that a chef learns as he | | | | Taste |
| makes the journey through his career. The | | | | Finally there is taste, where the rubber meets the |
| distinguishing mark of a great chef is his ability to | | | | road, does it taste as good as it looks? Or |
| take those ordinary things that we eat every day | | | | sometimes, does it taste any good at all, given |
| presenting them in new and exciting way. Here | | | | the strange combination of ingredients. All of the |
| are some of the elements that he will use to | | | | above need to be in place before we will even |
| transform visually dull foods to make us want | | | | venture to try it out in our mouths. The taste |
| them to jump off the plate into our mouths. | | | | part is the culmination of the dining experience, |
| Texture | | | | not the beginning. Here is the opportunity to |
| The chef uses different textures in his | | | | prove that, in spite of the contradictions to the |
| presentations that will, blend or contrast with the | | | | senses, the combination is actually quite good. This |
| other elements on the plate. The word abrasive | | | | is the quest of the chef, to find unique |
| was used in a recent commentary, it is a great | | | | combination's, properly prepare them, present |
| description of the use of texture. By painting a | | | | them in a distinctive manner, and prove to the |
| plate with Creme Anglaise, placing a slice of | | | | tongue that the eyes did not lie. |
| coarse Genoese cake and adding fresh berries in | | | | |