How to Build a Better Dinner
Embarking on a culinary journey to enhance your dinner experience? Discover the art of constructing a superior meal, from choosing fresh ingredients to mastering cooking techniques. Let's redefine your dining table with a touch of creativity and a dash of passion.
At home, use building blocks
These are ingredients that have an extra-long shelf life (typically weeks, if not months) and concentrated flavor
- They’re essential for operational efficiency
- In fine dining, they’re critical to maintain the flavor identity
- The ingredients, preparations, and aromas that lend cohesion to a restaurant experience
The concept also allows for more efficient planning and communication
During normal operations, the restaurant maintains a spreadsheet that allows them to carefully manage ingredients, and lets the chef on-duty know exactly what needs to be ordered
- With the disruption of the restaurant industry and supply chains caused by the pandemic, the flow was reversed: vendors calling to ask if they could use a few hundred pounds of dried chickpeas stranded on a delivery truck nearby, etc.
- To adapt to that shifting inventory, and to effectively communicate to his team, he relied heavily on base preparations that could fit easily into a wide range of dishes.
Pim Techamuanvivit uses her grandmother’s nam prik pao as a base for tom yum
She spikes the base with extra red chile powder before tossing it with fries or sprinkling it over brussels sprouts and asparagus as they sauté
A simple tomato sauce forms the base of all of Paul Giannone’s square pies at Paulie Gee’s Slice Shop.
Think of these recipe building blocks in musical terms
- They’re the foundations of longer pieces
- In improvising jazz, experienced musicians pull from a mental library of licks and riffs
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