While creating a menu for the restaurant and for the pastry cooks, I have tried to be sensitive to the quality and varied preperations that goes on day to day. To clarify, cooks usually do one or two different kinds of work; standing still and up and down movements. Sometimes there is nothing more gratifying then standing on your head after a day standing on your feet. The first time I saw a chef use a spoon to put an ingredient on a plate with a swing on an arm, i noticed and took a note on the margin of my recipe book. It really stuck with me not for the bravado but because i had never seen someone use that muscle while composing a dish.
At Meadowood, in the dish ” to quicken the heart”, we do just that. The chocolate decor is made by holding a paper cone filled with chocolate and squeezing it into an ice bath while moving the body in a circular pattern.
and for the assembly, we spoon umame powder ( aka mushroom flavored modified tapioca starch) on a brown butter bisquit
At the end of the day, what ever you put into the dish, and in this case the movement will translate to the guest. Even if its a fleeing thought, there are opportunities for many more gestures.
Great dish and concept.
It reminds me of Jackson Pollock: http://www.arthistoryspot.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/JacksonPollock2.jpg