pastry dreams/ new dessert menu thoughts ~

rosemary caramel, hazelnuts, sage shortbread, candied orange rind, citrus souffle, toasted pine nuts & extra virgin olive oil,

            the scent your hands carry after you've pressed quince's abundant pectin through a cheesecloth sack stuffed with peels and pips

magenta liquid and it's magical fruit, hot devil's food cake fresh from the oven, semolina stiffening in cream and milk, red peppercorns & chocolate,

            the quiet homage, the reverie you pay to a ceramic blade as it licks the cutting board quietly;  most confident, through tough fruit skin

shoutingly bright lemon sherbet-- raw and creamy, icy like snow, fennel seeds found between teeth, a dash of salt brined lemon peel for wicked pleasure,

            jumping on and off of railroad cars: the way it feels to taste all those cumin pot de creme in a row and the lesson you teach your staff-- unspoken but for their mouths registering inconsistencies

sweet pistachio flavor condensed, focused like a tunnel leading to a grove of pistachio trees, crunchy, shattering phyllo, pink rose syrup, Chios Mastic waiting in the corner,

            what is the proportion of this mouth-feel to that? when is crunchy necessary? can a dessert be all about texture without mention of flavor? how far can one take "poetic license?" who notices details? is scent flavor?

Three new desserts in the wings. One about caramel, another on the subject of pistachio-rose and the last an altar to the mighty lemon.

Will I feed you soon?

Comments

[Anita]

as if I didn't have enough temptation with the mastic and the lemon, you add rosemary-caramel? (swoon)

Honestly, I've never had a sweet tooth, but I think I have a crush on your menu.

[chadzilla]

An ice cream maker from Haiti who utilizes fruits from her own garden offered me a taste of one of her creations. She called it a Chinese ice cream, although the flavors are not from China (don't know where she got that one). Anyway, it was a combination of pistachio, rose water, and saffron. The trilogy of flavors is truly amazing. You already have 2 sides of the triangle, so just thought you'd like to experiment with adding the third. Let me know what you think.
Everything sounds incredible. The ideas and your philosophies are avant-garde... this proves that you think as scientifically minded as any other chef out there. Science and poetry are of the same... born of inspiration, both an infinity within boundaries.

[Susan]

Shuna! I am positively drooling over your wonderful dessert ideas. Thank goodness I will be headed to the restaurant next week...if you ever need a birthday girl to be a guinea pig, you've got me!

[Natalie Sztern]

Shuna, I sit on the other side of the table, the consumer side. I have no formal training in food and don't believe I have the right nor the experience to own my own food blog, but feel the need to often respond to those blogs I feel fortunate to read, and as bloggers know, reading someone's blog is a choice. Unfortunately it is also a place that people feel the need to broker their own subjective opinions. I have a friend in the process of opening a restaurant and it is indeed a roller-coaster ride. Which is why I have read all ur posts on the topic.
Your are one fine writer. You are one fine chef and u seem to posess enough talent that I am intrigued by you.
I love that u are letting me read your personal journal, which I hope one day when you are settled, you will publish. This would be a book of great interest - The Opening of a Restaurant...Thank you for letting me have a half hour of intelligent and insightful reading. It has been a priviledge to meet you.

[lizelle]

Thank you for your words, stories and ability to let us into the heart of a chef.

[Tea]

Lemon? Oh yes!

[Jennifer]

Shuna,

I've been reading your blog for many months now, and I have to say that you really are an inspiration - I hope your pastry staff appreciates you! I'm a pastry cook in restaurant close to Boston, MA (in a department of one = me) who was given that role after only 9 months of culinary school training (specifically in pastry arts) and I often wish I worked under a talented, dedicated and fair pastry chef (such as yourself). Ah, but at the moment that is not to be. There are days when I feel overwhelmed and underskilled and days when I very much believe that I can handle the challenge of creating desserts, tastings and platings each night. The majority of the time, though, I wish I could turn to someone and ask "why didn't this work?" or "how does this taste? what would you add/subtract?" - it is rather lonely being the only pastry person in the kitchen. And being the only woman in the kitchen, well, that's a whole other story as you know!

I read your wonderful ramblings and I smile, I feel connected - you show so much thought and care for the food and for the people who work with it. After a particulary bad day or night, I read and I remember - I want to be a chef, but right now I'm a cook. And I need to be patient with myself. So, thank you for writing. For sharing. For inspiring.

And I love the rosemary-caramel combination!

[Alison]

It's almost P-e-r-s-i-m-m-o-n season!

[Michael]

Thank you for sharing. The rosemary-caramel combination is certainly something to think about.

[EB]

Caramel Caramel Caramel!!! Not that I needed a massive push to make me want to stop in and taste your handiwork but oooooh caramel.....