I think I'm pretty good at tasting a dish and parsing the individual ingredients therein.I'll get fooled sometimes. Or I'll taste something I've never had before, so there's no way I can guess what that ingredient was. Sometimes it takes me a while; "It's like... it's like... oh, come ON, I know what this is..."
This modest talent is what makes me want to re-create dishes I've had in restaurants.
Only it turns out you have to have a good memory of what was on your plate.
Last November, Cranky and I joined Sam and her mum for a meal at Ubuntu in Napa. The four of us had a grand time exploring our vegetarian dishes. Some were good, some were better. I adored the cauliflower in an iron pot, and Sam wondered whether I would try to cobble together a version at home. (I might; but I haven't yet. Still shopping for the adorable iron pots.)
Easier for me was to take a stab at a lovely salad of fingerling potatoes with greens and a thrilling mustardy dressing.
See, now that's all I remembered about the dish. Oh, I remembered that the potatoes come from Little Organic Farm. And I remembered the gorgeous layout on the plate.
So I put together a mock-up at home, using genuine Little potatoes, and ancho cress as my greens. Yummy!
Then I took a look at Ubuntu's web site, and discovered that the menu lists fennel as a green ingredient with the potatoes. Wow, that sounds nice; a little sweet, a little mysterious. I would like that. And reading Sam's post about the salad, I realize it also included torpedo onions. I would like that, too. Oh! And looking at Sam's mum's post, it looks like there might have been minced chives. I would like that, too.
Wait. I did like that. I just forgot.
Oh well. Simplicity in cooking is a nice excuse for a bad memory.
Say I.
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9 comments:
Oh I'm the first to comment! I'm reliving the experience- those potatoes were very yummy and I'm sure the dish you re-created was equally tasty!
Chris: It was nice, but thanks to your (enlargeable) photo, I can get a little closer to the original thing next time.
(Boy, restaurants can be fussy with their food, eh? Heh. That's why we patronize them.)
I just wish I'd been there as well!
That's how you make it your own. Honestly, I learned to cook by imitating things from memory (I even got paid to do it for a while) and there's no better way to internalize the discoveries and talents of others.
Peter is so right. I was about to say, "You're not faking it, you're making it!"
Great to have the feedback (no pun intended) from fellow diners, though. I find when I eat with my son -- he of the incredible palate -- he will remember forever the nuances and ingredients that I may not. But that doesn't keep me from wanting to come as close as I can to the f-e-e-l-i-m-g of a dish I've loved.
we had david little's larger potatoes for dinner, odd ones, shared half-n-half, been in the fridge since last year, one rounder yellowsih, one longer. thinner, whitish. Both really way too sweet for our tastes. Oh for a King Edward, a Maris Piper or a Jersey royal...
I went down memory lane with a recipe for Wed. as well... it's amazing how details fuzz out... this looks and sounds good whatever the inspiration. I'll have to try Unbutu.
Simplify. Nothing wrong with that.
Beccy: It would have been great to have you -- and the extra dishes to sample!
Peter: I know. Baby steps. Fortunately I have the techniques. Now it's about embellishment -- if I should choose to go there. (I mean embellishment as "extra flavors.") Cranky says I got the piano part down, but no violins.
Kudzu: I got the structure (and it was quite pretty), cooked correctly and assembled well. Now I'm "empowered" to tweak the tastes and twinkles. I envy your son's memory!
Sam: We've got tons of David Little taters in the house. I hadn't thought of them as sweet (but Cranky does all the buying so I don't know what varieties we have). We don't like his yellers.
Anna: "Details fuzz out" sigh... Yes. You'd like Ubuntu.
Tammy: Simplify, getting it right. Then pile on! Fun.
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