When Chefs Construct a Dish What Do They Think About?

When chefs construct a dish they almost always think about these four elements: produce, aroma, body, and taste.  This literally translates to the structure of a dish.  Most chefs would also add creativity as an element because creativity is like the cement in between produce, aroma, body, and taste.  Chefs want to create.  They like to find different products, make the most of a regions diversity and to try to get guest as excited as they are when they come across these ingredients.

I am a chef, but I also think of myself as an artist too when I create a dish.  I search for perfection in my raw materials and the best way to incorporate it into my dish without compromising the unique flavor that nature automatically infused into it.

Like a sculptor sees a human face in a slab of marble, the artist incorporates the beauty of the natural stone with his trained eyes and hands to bring the face to life.  We both search for perfection and control over raw materials.

To really get to know how a chef thinks when constructing a dish, it's best to read their menu, spend time with them in their kitchen, and see which chefs they respect and what dishes inspire them.  They can think back to their childhood, look at trends among their peers, and look to many different culinary traditions.

A chef is always learning to hone techniques, tweak flavors and textures, introduce novel ingredients and seek bigger challenges.  Chefs spend months developing recipes and end up discarding a lot of ideas and dishes along the way.

Once a chef has an idea of how the dish should look, they start sketching out potential assembly approaches.  They think about how each component becomes a part of the unified whole.  They think to themselves, "Will the sauce be spooned, drizzled, or smeared? Will it have components of sweet, sour, salty, spicy and or bitter notes? How will the guest eat it?" Most chefs spend some time doing this.  This allows chefs to wrap their heads around not just the look of the dish, but what secondary components one might add for better flavor, texture, and appearance.

Chefs think about how the dish will look early on in the process, and more importantly, how the guest will eat it.  "Will the guest get more enjoyment if it's eaten with a spoon as opposed to a fork? Will it be served hot or cold?" This is where they think about the chefs that inspire them.  They usually have a good library of photo-driven cookbooks by those inspirational chefs.  A lot of chefs that I know have an absurd collection of cookbooks and recipes.  Not because they're cooking all of these recipes as written but to get inspiration from them.

you often hear that "we eat with our eyes", and I think it's more accurate to say that plating is sort of an introduction to the dish.  It can't just taste excellent.  It has to sound enticing on the menu, and it has to look and smell beautiful when it arrives at your table.  All of that contributes to the mind of a chef when they think about that dish.

it's really, really complicated.  It's not just science and procedure, it's very much an art.  Chefs spend their entire careers learning how to do this well.  So, the next time you sit down in a restaurant, scan the menu and think, "This all sounds really amazing!" Stop and give the chef a silent cheer!

Source : articlesbase.com