You know what it is…tiny servings made to look like art. For which they charge big bucks.
What is the purpose? Does it make the food taste better?
Does anyone really care if their food looks pretty?
Yes. And yes it does make the food taste better, if you consider prettyfication like adding a small sprig of thyme or dill or a twirl of intensely flavoured stock.
Though tiny servings is nothing really to do with haute cuisine, except in so far as the food my be so rich as to be only enjoyable in modest portions.
I really enjoy it when they arrange my sushi in a nice pattern.
Bippy pretty much nailed it on the head, but I’ve got a few things to add:
There are several theories behind the sense of taste, one of which is that the palate tires of a flavor after around 4 bites. So, when serving something that is a very particular and intense flavor, you want only a few bites worth. In culinary school, I learned that in this style of cooking, that you want your portions to be just enough that your customer would want just one more bite, which leaves them open and ready for the next course. Also, people do ‘taste by sight’–I’m sure you’ve seen something that looks absolutely beautiful, that just makes your mouth water at the sight of it. Reversely, I’m sure you’ve come across food that with just one look, you know you’ll never take one bite of it. Beautiful food is a delight to all of the senses.
Speaking of courses, you do need to keep in mind that most places that do Haute Cuisine, if such small portions are served, that you are generally eating many courses–5, 7, or as many as 12. The French Laundry is an excellent example: http://www.frenchlaundry.com/tfl/tflmenu.htm Definitely take a look at their menus.
When you are a part of making this kind of cuisine, it’s looked at as an art. They are buying the finest examples of the foods featured, they will take days in making the perfect dish for a dinner service–a large pot of a decent demi-glace will take about 2 days from beginning to end. It’s things like that that make it expensive–time is definitely money. It’s not slap-dash kind of food that is served in your average diner, just in tiny portions that look pretty.
Don’t get me wrong, I dig a burger & fries as much as any other red-blooded American girl, and when it comes right down to it, I’m not a food snob. But, there is real work and artistry that goes into Haute Cuisine, which I appreciate, and have been a part of in my career. There is some real love and talent that goes into it.
What does this have to do with Bush?
I like my food to be pretty; I think making food attractive enhances my dining experience. Taste isn’t the only sense with which to enjoy food. But the silly little arrangements that you find at really fancy restaurants indeed put me off. When the food is arranged into towers, or other bizarre shapes, it not only makes it look less like food to me, but it can make it hard to eat!
BTW, Ike, was that snide little remark really necessary?
I think that one main problem is that most american diners automatically expect huge portions because in their head they are calculating as they are ordering. For example, “$20 for chicken?? I could buy 5 chickens for that much!” As portion sizes have gotten larger the quality goes down. Restaraunts cater to this by offering huge portions of uninteresting foods. In additon, most people I know have hugely underdeveloped palates and do not appreciate more subtle tastes. This well be a direct result of the first problem, creating a catch 22.
Sorry–that should read–this well MAY be…
Now that’s just cold.
You’ve reminded me of a story a friend told me. To understand it, you must know a few things:
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He is from Romania, and his father is Hungarian; Dad’s a meat and potatoes kind of guy, and likes plenty. His mother, on the other hand, is a native Romanian, also speaks Russian and French, and likes to see herself as a cosmopolite. At his last birthday party, she invited a slew of European expatriates, and not one of his friends.
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Chez Panisse is the toniest restaurant in Berkeley, California. There, owner/chef Alice Waters pretty much invented California Cuisine. It features extremely fresh ingredients, preferably organically grown, and it costs a fortune.
So. his parents went to Chez Panisse. His mother was transported by a complex yet refined blend of organic vegetables, locally-grown spices, and cruelty-free meats. His father’s opinion:
“They only gave me one potato, and it was this big!” (holds up two fingers two inches apart)
The wife an I go to Vegas once every two or three years…mostly to eat food that isn’t available elsewhere. The standouts were all sampling menus:
The first trip:
- $150 - Emeril’s Fishhouse - 7 course
- $225 - Emeril’s Delmonaco - 4 course
The second trip:
- $300 - the Restaurant in the Eiffel Tower - 8-9 course
- $170 - Return trip to E’s Fishhouse - 7 course
They were ALL worth it. Now, that’s a good two to three months of our normal food budget, and any one of the dishes we ate could be reproduced at home in our kitchen. But All of the items were unique, stunning, unusual, and fantastic.
There are standout items that we could not hope to make due to the unusual freshness of the food (ya can’t get hand schucked diver scallops that haven’t been frozen in Denver…at least I can’t.) or the cost of the raw materials (priced fois gras lately?)
Eating at these places is only partly about the food. Another part is the experience - Paris is NOT a jeans and t-shirt restaurant, and for one night I can pretend like I can live that lifestyle more than once every two to three years.
[QUOTE=Unintentionally Blank]
ya can’t get hand schucked diver scallops that haven’t been frozen in Denver…at least I can’t.QUOTE]
Whole Foods carries them. At least the one in Boulder did when I lived there. They are excellent.
Count me in as one who cares if the food looks pretty. It’s a joy to be in a restaurant where everything is perfect. Wonderful service, lovely surroundings, and lovely food.
[QUOTE=Athena]
I’ll have to look for them, until I had the scallops at Emeril’s I thought they were supposed to have a rubbery consistency!
Coincidentally, I just started re-reading Good Omens, in which the Famine character takes credit for creating nouvelle cuisine. 
I’ve never had rubbery scallops. I usually get mine from Cost Cutter (an ironic name if I’ve ever heard one!). I sauté them in a little butter and season them with a dash of salt and pepper. They turn out great every time. A local restaurant, recently closed after 11 years of business, had very good sautéed scallops on their “Captain’s Platter”.