Great chefs will layer in flavor to deliver amazing dishes. One of the ways to really impress your guests at a dinner party is to serve dishes with multiple flavors that are complementary and have been ‘layered’ into a dish. When you add dimension with texture you hit the culinary daily double.
What does layering in flavor really mean? A great example is preparing shrimp.
- You can just cook it in boiling water. It is pretty bland.
- Or you can layer in flavor by:
- Seasoning with olive oil, salt & pepper
- Grill it on a wood-fired grill
- Add seasoning: salt, pepper or maybe chili powder
- Sprinkle it with fresh herbs
- Serve it with a southwestern sauce
- Complement your dish by serving it with a wonderful sauvignon blanc
- These are all examples of layering in flavor
A great example of this is a Romaine Wedge dish that I make. It combines:
• Fresh crisp lettuce
• A gorgonzola vinaigrette
• Crisp bacon
• Homemade garlic croutons
• Tomato, olive, onion, herb topping
There is a lot going on with this dish but it all comes to come together so well.
Not everyone can pick up the flavor nuances of the specific dimensions. I certainly cannot. But I know it taste great and I have feedback from dinner guests that reconfirm it. You know you have something special when people come to a party that you are hosting and ask for a specific dish. I have gotten numerous requests for the romaine wedge. Conversely, you will can get complaints that you didn’t make a certain dish.
I make a grilled/roasted shrimp that is stuffed with Gorgonzola and wrapped with bacon. It has all the basic food groups…layered together. It is the kind of item that you bring to a party and people line up to get their share. We have a good friend from England who is very proper in a British way who has let me know that she is disappointed that I didn’t make my shrimp appetizer.
Think of the flavor difference between the standard boiled (overcooked) shrimp with jarred cocktail sauce versus a grill-roasted shrimp stuffed with Gorgonzola wrapped in bacon. Layering in flavor is a good thing.
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