A Serving Of Humble Pie

K

kyheirloomer

Well-known member
As you may have surmised from some of my posts, I'm real big on appetizers and first courses. Long before the small plate craze I entertained that way.

So I was really anxious to see Heinz Beck's "Finger Food."

Ohhhh, my Gawd! Talk about the culinary art of the miniature. The man is a sheer genius, no getting around it.

Frankly, this is not a book for the home cook. Too many of the entries require techniques and equipment (not to mention ingredients) not readily available except in commercial kitchens. Sea Urchins, for instance, are not often found in my local Kroger. Nor do I have a flash cooler hidden under the sink.

One of my favorites (cuz it seems to be one of the few I'll attempt) is Smoked Salmon Mousse with Cucumbers. Doesn't sound too difficult, right? Except in his version, the firm mousse is cut in rectangles and toped with additional chopped salmon and cukes, all of which is sandwiched between 3-nut crackers that measure 1 x 1 1/2 inches. For perspective, that's the size of a 35 mm film negative. The dill that garnishes it is almost as tall as the canape itself.

Anyone who thinks he or she is good at finger foods and first courses is gonna swallow a huge dose of humility.

But if you want to browse one of the most beautiful cookbooks published recently---even knowing you aren't likely to make any of the recipes---I recommend you at least look at a copy. If nothing else, it may inspire you towards greater creativity in your own kitchen.

 
Ahhhh.... tapas! I love the small pieces of art - they often look too good to eat smileys/smile.gif

 
I'm a tapas freak, Cheezz.

But to call Beck's stuff tapas would be like calling the best 5-star chef you know a short order cook.

No kidding! You've got to see some of this stuff. Truly makes me want to fly to Rome for no other reason than to sample them.

Here's an example. Stuffed cherry tomatoes are a fairly common tapas. His version is Tomatoes Filled with Tartare of Scampi. The cherries are actually peeled before hollowing out. Then the shrimp tartare (the shrimp are diced small, btw, not ground) is piled in to overflowing. And the whole thing garnished with a fried basil leaf.

That's probably the simplest presentation in the whole book.

The photo of his Shalots Stuffed with Venison Ragout needs to be hanging in a museum.

Can you tell I'm impressed? :>)

 
WOW! Peeled cherry tomatoes... I'm alread impressed! smileys/smile.gif

The best tapas I've ever had was on the east coast at a little place called Dali. There's a new one here by me that has great hope - good food but just getting going. Most tapas places miss the entire idea - big plates of food that actually make a meal... they are completely missing it!

 
You're right.

And the "small plate" places are no different. Any of the servings at those I've seen would easily make a meal for me.

They really do miss the point. Even at a lot of the tapas places, they make the individual tapas the right size, and then pile six or eight of them on the plate.

 
I prefer places that do it like dim sum...

Lots of tiny plates with small "tastes" on them. I wish they'd do that, then count up the plates and charge accordingly like they do for dim sum.

 
That's the way it should be.

Or Chef Tastings, like some upscale restaurants do, in which, instead of a regular meal, you get maybe 12 "courses," each of which is a small sample of the chef's talent.

Used to be you could simulate this in any restaurant by merely ordering several items from the appetizer side. But nowadays, appetizer portions are so large it's no different than ordering a la carte. So this only works in a large group, where everyone orders something different, and everybody shares.

 
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