How To Garnish Food | The Nibble Webzine Of Food Adventures - The Nibble Webzine Of Food Adventures How To Garnish Food | The Nibble Webzine Of Food Adventures
 
 
 
 
THE NIBBLE BLOG: Products, Recipes & Trends In Specialty Foods


Also visit our main website, TheNibble.com.





TIP OF THE DAY: Create Excitement With Multiple Garnishes

Multiple Garnishes
[1] Multiple garnishes turn a piece of grilled fish into something special (photo courtesy Boutros Restaurant | Brooklyn).

Merguez Sausage
[2] It can be as simple as this: an appetizer of merguez sausage and shishito peppers (shown), or steamed asparagus, or scallops, etc., accented with a zigzag of one condiment and dots of another (photo courtesy Pain D’Avignon).

Beautiful Garnishes
[3] Underneath the garnish of zucchini curls, opal basil leaves and other herbs is a pork rib. To the side, a garnish of honey mustard polka dots, made with squeeze bottles (photo courtesy Uchi Restaurant | Hai Hospitality).

Basil Olive Oil
[4] Using a spatter of basil olive oil combines both the sauce and the olive oil “layers.” (photo Botanica Magazine).

 

Do you find that placing meat or fish on a plate with vegetables could use some oomph?

We do. That’s why we’ve taken a page from the creative chefs’ cookbook and use multiple garnishes on the plate.
 
 
HERE’S HOW TO DO IT

You’ll note in photo #1 that the chef:

1. Sauce: Added a circle of sauce to the center of the plate.

2. Vegetables: Added the vegetables (or grains, mashed potatoes, etc.) on top of the sauce.

3. Protein: Added the protein on top of the vegetables.

4. Olive oil: Added droplets of flavored olive oil around the sauce circle.

5. Spices: Sprinkled the plate with pinches of spice.

6. Herbs Or Greens: Topped with snipped herbs or microgreens. Or, if you are serving a salad, top the protein with the [lightly dressed] salad.

This works best with soft greens (mesclun or components—arugula, baby kale, baby spinach, oak leaf or butter lettuce, watercress), which “drape” better over the protein. You can use harder salad vegetables (cabbage, carrot, fennel, onion, radish, romaine, etc.), if they’re finely chopped/sliced.
 
 
None of this is hard to do. The biggest decision—and time—is deciding what sauce to use.

The sauce doesn’t have to be complicated; in fact, the easier, the better.

If you hadn’t planned for a sauce with your recipe, here are three quick options:

  • Purée and season vegetables, from tomatoes to steaming whatever you have on hand (bell peppers, carrots, celery, peas, etc.). Thin or thicken as desired with broth, cream, mayonnaise, olive oil, sour cream or yogurt.
  • You can also purée pasta sauce, add some sour cream or other dairy for a creamy sauce, or (if you prefer) serve it chunky.
  • Canned soups are an old stand-by. Lightly dilute cream of asparagus, mushroom, tomato, etc. with a bit of milk or broth.
  •  
     
    GARNISHES

    This list is by no means exhaustive, and what you choose will of course complement the recipe.

    Look through your cabinets and fridge: You may be surprised at what you already own. (We found two jars of capers and one jar of caperberries!).

    In alphabetical order:

  • Capers or caperberries
  • Caviar pearls
  • Cherry or grape tomatoes, halved, sliced or chopped
  • Chopped nuts or seeds
  • Citrus zest
  • Croutons
  • Crème fraîche
  • Curls: carrot, cucumber, zucchini
  • Dried herbs and spices (celery seed, chili flakes, paprika, pink/green/mixed peppercorns, anything with good color)
  • Fresh herbs (basil, dill, chives, rosemary, thyme)
  • Flavored olive oil droplets, swirls or zigzags
  • Favored (colored) sea salt
  • Gourmet condiments: flavored aïoli/mayonnaise, chili sauce, mustards
  • Grapes, mixed colors, halved
  • Grated or shaved cheese
  • Microgreens or sprouts
  • Olives, halved or chopped
  • Sauces (we use a lot of seasoned yogurt and pesto)
  • Sliced starfruit
  •  
     
    NEXT STEP

    What are you cooking for dinner tonight?

    Look through your kitchen cabinets and decide how to garnish it.

    And as always, have fun with it.

     

      

    Please follow and like us:
    Pin Share




    Comments are closed.

    The Nibble Webzine Of Food Adventures
    RSS
    Follow by Email


    © Copyright 2005-2024 Lifestyle Direct, Inc. All rights reserved. All images are copyrighted to their respective owners.