One of my weaknesses is that I quickly tire of the season at hand, impatient for the next to arrive.
Thinking fresh, thinking Spring and Summer, I jumped ahead, slicing up some young celery stalks and strawberries, and began to instinctively shuffle the flavors in my head, and then onto some vanilla ice cream. Ever since seeing Michel Bras' original Carnets, and his use of lightly candied vegetables to garnish something as simple as vanilla ice cream, I've been intrigued by how they can add their texture and flavor to more traditional dessert components, but in subtle ways. Celery is one that I always think about, and fennel is another. Bell peppers, too, and corn and beets and cucumber and...
Digging into my own recipe archives, I'm reminded of some old favorites that I'm anxious to revisit, especially those with vegetables incorporated into sorbets, like apple-celery and grapefruit-fennel.
I don't often think about Bras as much as I used to, nor Veyrat for that matter (I should!), but when I do, my mind wanders down less-traveled paths. I'm starting to envision some springtime desserts that resemble that gargouillou, the loose and organic simplicity of a salad.
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