Developing a menu
What have I been up to today? Why do I look so very content with life?
The answers are all to do with the Prohibition banquet.
My hardest working tester picked me up after work and we did a quick shopping trip. At 7 pm we finished cooking and at 10 pm we finished eating.
What we were doing tonight was something very special. I had talked to my friend about that possibility of reducing the number of dishes to be tested by using a different approach. This was when we were talking about the markets the other day. She asked “Can I help?”
What we’ve done is sort out the main course. Not entirely. We still have some testing. But we’ve worked out what sort of dishes were standard and why. We have the hook to hang the rest of the menu around. And we only have one more test for the whole course. This is because we cooked an incredible number of dishes in that short time.
Actually, she cooked. I worked out the recipes, gave historically useful advice and was her kitchen assistant.
Some of the issues we dealt with were types of oil, how to cook a perfect roast tenderloin, what Madeira tastes like, why commercial breadcrumbs flake dishes, why kittens adore potato. We also worked out that shape was an important element in the look of a plate. We discovered an amazing potato recipe, a superb sauce recipe and some delightful vegetable recipes, but mostly we looked at the shape and taste of the core of the menu.
This means I can talk to the hotel with many fewer qualifications. It means we can price the menu. It means we’ve made some very good progress.
Leave a Reply