r/CulinaryPlating • u/thatstationerynerd • 11d ago
Foie
Foie | Strawberries | Brown Butter Financier | Coffee Demi | Milk Crumb | Black Garlic | Sorrel
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u/crossdtherubicon 10d ago edited 10d ago
I apologize if this sounds harsh, it's just my immediate reaction.
The colors of individual ingredients doesn't appear as best they could: the foie looks burnt, the strawberries look pale and unappetizing.
It's not obvious how I'm supposed to interact with the 2 large pieces of financier.
Also, not clear why there are random piles of dust on gel, around the plate.
It has the vague appearance of a deconstructed dish but in full-size scale (or so it appears), and with lacking any cohesion: either in an intuitive way of eating, conceptually, or quite literally in terms of plating style.
While the dish reads well on a menu, and the flavor combinations are genuinely good and interesting, it doesn't live up to that on appearance.
Further, if you're asking someone to combine strawberries, coffee, and foie, then it needs to look intriguing and illicit enticement.
So, first of all work on individual components for color and scaling. Then consider how the dish is best eaten: should the guest enjoy some foie with each component individually? Because that's how it currently is designed. Or, should they take a bit of everything on a bite? Then consider designing the plate so the guest will easily and intuitively perform exactly that.
I could continue but I think that's the core.
Edit: I'd also thicken up the demi or remake it such that its thicker and adheres more precisely to the foie because if you redesign the plate, you're going to have dark brown liquid running through all the other components and colors.
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u/JamesBong517 9d ago
This. Biggest thing I learned of my years I. Michelin kitchens was the guest shouldn’t have to think how to enjoy the dish. They should easily eat it how you intended.
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u/MonthlyWeekend_ 11d ago
Man I don’t even know what to say. That’s a premium ingredient in the middle of the plate.
Why’d you put the rest of it there?
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u/4notherRandoRoon 11d ago
Focus more on the foie, tone down the other components, foie looks fantastic, keep it up chef
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u/Burn_n_Turn 10d ago
Change the plate. Lose the crumb. Finesse the financier into anything other than a incongruous boulder and soak it in the coffee demi and foie fat. Place the foie on top. Strawberries and subsequent gel / sauce and the black garlic(?) placed intentionally and tight to the foie. No sorrel on top of the foie, which you've slightly overed.
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u/JewingIt 10d ago
Toasted milk powder financier crumb with a black garlic balsamic sauce could be good. Almost like a savory strawberry shortcake with foie is where your comment sent me.
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u/jontseng 10d ago
I think as others have said too many ingredients on the plate. Foie with strawberries? Fine - esp as this late in the season straws probably have strong astringency? Foie with financier? Could work foie with a sweeter bread like brioche is textbook. Foie with black garlic? Hmm maybe. Foie with sorrel? Again maybe tho a bit sour.
All of those things together? Simply too much going on.
Foie crust also looks slightly over. I don’t know if the liquid around it is sauce or fat leakage from the liver (maybe rest it on a paper towel first) but I get it that searing foie always feels like a high risk proposition (the longer you leave it the more it melts away!!).
The thing I’d draw your attention to tho I the ratio of foie to financier. Try breaking the financier into bite sized chunks and figuring how much foie you’d get with each chunk to go around. I think the ratio is way off you’d only get a tiny bit of foie with each bit and it would be overwhelmed by the sponge cake. Tweak the quantities?
Hope that makes sense. If it were me I’d strip it down to foie on the financier with a strawberry gastrique/garnish. Less is more.
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u/diablosinmusica 10d ago
Not really something for a black plate. The foie and none of the ingredients really stand out.
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u/BonelessPickle 11d ago
I actually disagree with the other commenters for a couple reasons:
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just because your central ingredient is usually served simply does not mean you have to. This is the kind of experimental thing that either works or doesn't and nobody in the whole world will know until someone fucks around and finds out
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this is a sub about plating not menu design. It's plated beautifully - maybe slightly crowded.
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u/jontseng 10d ago
One observation- I know the sub is ostensibly about plating (clue in the title) but in my experience critiques people give tend to be about the whole dish and not just the plating. Just a thing I think..
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