Garnishes
A chef friend of mine, Mark Fischer of Carbondale, Colorado's Six89 and Phat Thai restaurants, says that you can judge the quality of a restaurant by the quality of its Caesar Salad and/or its Fried Calamari.
Based on my own experiences, I'd have to say he's right.
I'd venture to say that the same can be said about the way a restaurant garnishes its dishes.
At its worst, garniture is a mindless act, whereby a chef throws a slice of orange and a sprig of curly parsley on every dish. The same care, one can assume, likey goes into the rest of that chef's dishes.
At its best, garniture sheds light on what the diner can expect from a dish, in terms of flavors one can expect and any "attitude" the dish may have.
Is the dish expected to be taken seriously or whimsically? Is it traditional or cutting-edge?
Garnish can really connect a chef to his or her diner. In fact, it can be a diner's first impression of an otherwise faceless chef.
Don't disconnect yourself from your diners! Easier said than done, you say?
Not! There's no one ingredient that makes it easier for you to dramatically impact your dishes: specialty salt!
With just a sprinkle, you can add color, texture, and, of course, flavor.
Use...
Black, red and hibiscus salts in combination to add whimsy.
Smoked salt to add depth.
Flake salt to show your sensitive side.
Coarse salt to show you're bold.
A saffron blend to suggest you're worldly.
Remember, if you opt for no salt or, alternatively, too many salts on any one dish, beware that you give away the fact that you're wishy-washy and have no sense of self!
