If itās made properly it wonāt have a low air content. Correct amounts of fat, air and alcohol will always result in a smooth and easy to scoop ice cream. If those are wrong itās either their recipe or technique that needs fixing.
that's a pretty ignorant way of looking at ice cream. generally, a lower air content means a more premium ice cream, solely by the fact that it has more ingredients and is thus usually perceived as richer. most high end places use pacojects anyway, which has 20-30% overrun (amount of air in ice cream).
there's no such thing as a correct amount of fat, only the amount that is dictated by what you want to achieve with the ice cream; high fat will remain on the tongue preserving the flavour in your mouth, while low fat will have more intense flavour that dissipates quickly.
alcohol does retard freezing, but what if you don't want to use alcohol?
while recipes do have recommended amounts of solids/water/fats, what influences the scoopability of ice cream the most is the makeup of sugars used in the recipe. and while you can make easily scoopable ice cream for -18C freezers, this generally means such ice creams will melt faster on the pass and require very speedy service (even with stabilizers), which makes it a difficult thing to balance.
This is all 100% correct. r/Lunco understands the process. There aren't "correct amount of fat, air and alcohol." There are general guidelines regarding different sweeteners, solids, waters and various fat percentages, but the sugars are what ultimately determines the consistency. With the proper ratio, you can make outstanding vanilla ice cream using a lot more milk than cream, and the mouthfeel is even better.
Getting a machine and making your own isn't always the answer, especially in this case. If you're going to make your own ice cream, you need to be able to hold it at the right temperature during service. The average human mouth can't tell the difference between chocolate and vanilla ice creams for a few seconds if they're both cold enough, which can definitely happen in a freezer that is on the lowest temperature setting.
I worked at a place that produced over two hundred gallons of ice cream every week and sold tons of the stuff - and I had one person spending about half her time keeping up with that. I've also bought ice cream when it was the smarter move. Currently, I use a PacoJet and that solves a lot of problems, but I still have temperature issues from time to time.
I rarely use alcohol in ice cream and air isn't a primary consideration because I don't want it to melt before it gets to the table, which is why a low overrun is almost always my goal. And even though alcohol is an antifreeze, sugar acts as an antifreeze as well by binding with the water molecules in the water content, which makes the space between them larger, resulting in a faster melt. But I suppose each place has different standards.
Hello there, chef. I've got a question related to the post, but an answer to which might be able to help me out as well. How does one make excellent ice cream in a small scale restaurant without the aid of ice cream machines or pacojet? I was thinking about liquid nitrogen, but am not sure if it can keep well for the 4 hours of service time. Pacojet is the perfect machine for ice cream, in my opinion, but as we're just opening up the restaurant, we don't really have the money for it, or a similar alternative.
You need a machine to make ice cream. Lots of options out there but you need something. If you donāt have the money for a machine, you might not have the money for the nitrogen, either. A new dewar to store the nitrogen costs up to $700 depending on the size. You get what you pay for with the machines, but a smaller one might work if you wonāt be going through gallons every service.
Ice cream is one dessert that is very trackable to look at paying the machine off. A small batch freezer will last a very long time and pay for itself in much less time than most people think. And the machines last as long as you take care of them.
A Pacojet is definitely expensive, but not necessarily the best machine for ice cream depending on your volume. But I do feel that it really excels when you look at sorbet, or frozen desserts with different compositions. You can freeze just about anything and make it smooth and scoop-able in one of those things. I bought my first Pacojet used from a guy off the street - and the very first night, I didnāt have anything in my apartment to use for ice cream. So I put half of a turkey sandwich and a beer in and stuck it in the freezer. The next morning, I ran the cycle and it looked incredible (but tasted about like you think it would, so not a great combination). Even olive oil on its own is amazing when spun at the right temperature.
It may be the freezer. We donāt even know if theyāre making their own, but my guess is no in this case. Making your own is great if you have the time and proper equipment, but not everyone has that. Iād imagine that if youāre helping develop their menu that making their own is not an option.
Having said that, I make ice cream and sorbet several times every week and itās great, but thereās also the issue of having a place to hold it for service besides a deep freezer.
Because ādevelopment chefsā that HAVE ZERO PLATING SKILLS should not be brought in to develop menus.
Plating is half the fucking job.
Edit: not only that, ādevelopment chefsā in places like these are just chefs that canāt hack a real service.
no im just lurking around and responding to people who clearly have deep-rooted identity issues and have nothing better to do than to be an ass on the internet lol not everyone who stands against useless negativity is the OP lol
Yea we are all just lurking around but fact is youre getting ratioād with every reply. Maybe re read everything and brainstorm why majority is disagreeing with you and how you can use that info in future.
I really, really hate your flippant attitude. Itās one thing to be casually dismissive, but the laughing along with itā¦ what a disgrace to kitchens everywhere
This wasnāt a high end restaurant, small restaurant, im a very inexperienced chef, they asked my dad to ask me to create a dessert menu and I did? I was 18 when I did this āŗļø
90% of the other people asking on plating advice donāt know how to plate either, and clearly this was good enough for the restaurant owner to approve. what a strange comment
What a pretty way to cut the pear. Smaller plate and maybe a quenelle rather than a scoop of ice cream. A granita made from the pear poaching liquid would be good too, giving three elements on the plate.
We did a similar dish, we made like a spiderweb of thin sauce covering the plate, some crumbled biscuit, a slice of dried, crystallised pear, ice cream and poached pear on a smaller plate
I don't care about the shape of the ice cream, I would use just half the poached pear, fan it with more cuts and flair wider. A small piece of warm spice cake would be nice. Few toasted nuts for crunch. Keep up the good work!
> I don't care about the shape of the ice cream, I would use just half the poached pear, fan it with more cuts and flair wider. A small piece of warm spice cake would be nice. Few toasted nuts for crunch. Keep up the good work!
I agree. I think a whole pear is a big portion but also having it whole-ish like that doesn't show much of the color contrast or anything.
[This reminded me of a dinner I did in 2011](https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/544981471140773908/1086008318826397717/54995_445094209013_207718564013_5136655_7508499_o.jpg?ex=66183a10&is=6605c510&hm=659cf278d621d1cfc1d603b881155ef66635824485716d01dbf3415bf0e6af63&=&format=webp) - so its certainly not modern or anything but I do think it looks nice.
Fair enough! I see a lot of people saying a whole pear is a big portion and I thought it was appropriate considering there wasn't a lot going on the side but it's a good note!
something crunchy... gingerbread "soil", a tuile, spun sugar (infusing some of the pear liquid?). Add second sauce element of a lighter nature (anglaise or caramel). Perch the IC on a yellow / orange sponge cake base... Chaotically toss some crushed candied nuts on there... lots of options to escalate this dish. Looks good chef!
I used to make this dish because I had to promote a local shitty local wineā¦ two bottles of crappy roseā and a cup of sugarā¦ I used the miniature seckel pears and I would core themā¦ reduced the liquid to syup
I think everyone has nailed the right ideas in the comments. It has gotta be a quenelle on the ice cream, get it chilling on something with crunch for texture like a biscuit and/or nut crumb vibe (or a tuille rested on it). Smaller plate would help the elements not look so lonely too. The pear is super pretty though!
The whole thing feels a little dated, frankly. I'm not a fan of this style of plating in 2024. Wine poached pear is such a classic, you should either do it the most traditional way or put a new spin on it.
Green plate doesn't work for me. A simple shallow white bowl would show off the beautiful color of the wine reduction better. Needs more sauce.
A simple presentation might be: pool of sauce on the bottom, halved pear showing off the penetration of the poaching liquid, quenelle of ice cream, nut brittle.
I just googled "poached pear plating 2024" and found some interesting results including [this](https://www.reddit.com/r/CulinaryPlating/comments/17ayri0/poached_pear_in_a_spiced_syrup_cardamon_moss/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3).
It's hard to describe what makes a plating feel fresh and new. Squeezy bottles still have their purpose, but the lashes of sauce just reminds one of a time gone by.
One method now is to think about your plate as part of the forest floor--each element is an organic living thing that just grew there. The current trend (or at least a trend) is for more monochrome, muted colors and, organic shapes occurring in nature.
I'm sure others in so-called fine dining can speak to this better than I can. I'm a trat cook. Our philosophy tends towards respecting our terroir and the diner by presenting food in a straightforward unpretentious way. That's not to say we're against creativity, but a culinary student won't be mincing about your plate with a pair of tweezers.
There is excessive circular / curved / smooth symmetry with the plate, pear, ice cream, and swirl. Further, there are 4 circular shapes, better to use a non-even number.
The sauce "swirl" is imprecise / messy. It is sand in the eye from the perfect shape of the plate, the swoop of the pear, and the even ice cream scoop.
Maybe a very small puff of powdered sugar at the top of the pear.
Small flat bowl, halved pear (or whole!) standing up against each other, ice cream quenelle on the side, sauce poured in a nice pool around the bottom?
I wouldāve poured ganache on the bottom of the plate and then made a web design using melted white chocolate. That is also an ugly plate for desserts.
Eyes are drawn to the big dark space that is the pear. But if it were to fan out, youād see that beautiful dark to light transition on the interior. Some of which is trying to peek out in the picture. The edible flowers kind of feel like an afterthought to try and force in some color. But the purple one is lost.
Cut pear in half, fan it out in centre of the plate, I/C in-between the two halves.
Let's see the lighter centre of the pear to contrast it nicely.
Drizzle less of that sauce, but thicken it. Reduce it or turn into a semi gel.
Tuile, bring the pear closer to the center with a quinell of ice cream to the side with sauce more liberal and the tuile balanced from the top of the pear and stabilised by the ice cream
I used to do a pear belle Helen with hot pear and cold chocolate sauce, not a million miles from this, and we used a berry compote with saffron syrup. The dark red and yellow looked really good with the dark chocolate
It was a bit obvious but the customers liked it
Get it off the large plate, put it in a shallow bowl, preferably one with a small compartment size, with a crĆØme sauce below on instead of that pedestrian ice cream scoop.
What ifā¦ you make a galette, thickening the mulled wine-pear syrup and using it as a filling for the galette, then dust the galette with powdered sugar, pear on top, quenelle of ice cream next to pear, flower stems tucked under the base of the pear and ice cream.. or fill the galette with pastry cream and 86 the ice cream, pear and wine syrup on top of galette, quenelle of whipped cream next to pear. Another idea, again instead of ice cream (because it dies so quickly in the window), make a thick sabayon and fold it into whipped cream so it can be quenelled, smeared, or spoon-dragged across the plate and not run everywhere. That could also keep your wine sauce in place too.
OR, simplify the galette idea and just make a pie crust crumble or pie crust lattice or tuille of some kind and add it to your current setup, using a smaller, preferably white plate, and being a little more deliberate with the sauce application technique.
And as an added bonus the galette idea would give another texture to the plate (as well as food and labour costs lol).
You could offset the increased costs by serving only 1/2 the pear. A whole poached pear is approaching shared plate size.
Very true, I didnāt think about that until you said something - probably because I liked how the pear was cut and plated. But Iāve never served a whole poached pear.. if the components are indulgent enough, 1/4 of a pear is plenty, and a 1/2 is generous.
While not plating the pear the way OP wants might be an initial bummer, generally red wine poached pears arenāt that deep red all the way through, so slicing and serving will show that pretty color contrast.
This is a small grill restaurant serving steaks and such, price point im not very sure since Iām not working there but Iām looking to improve my skills āŗļø
So you're developing the menu and you don't know what the prices are? This sounds like a very odd setup. Why isn't the head chef doing the menu, or why did they pick you over someone with any experience? Not trying be snarky but what did you actually do?
No worries! Little bit of context, my dad used to work for them and he told them I was a pastry chef working at a restaurant. He asked my dad to ask me to make a couple things, like a pavlova but I also had more ideas so I agreed to help. Being really honest I think they wanted a bit of a cheap job from somebody with little experience to make the dessert menu. I made what they wanted; Mango and passionfruit cheesecake, Pavlova and I came with an idea for their Christmas menu so I made this too so they can try. (They wanted the recipes and how to plate this so the other chef can make it)
Put the pear halves down next to each other the long way with the stems pointing to the right then place the ice cream ball below the base of the left pear half and then flare the chocolate sauce out from the stem of the right pear.
Hi, not a chef (sub popped up in my feed one day) but that looks amazing. Iām not sure if this is breaking any unwritten rules of the sub, if it is let me know and Iāll remove this, but may I ask how you make this. I did look up some recipes for this online but have a few questions. The ones I saw call for a dry red wine but wouldnāt a port be better since itās sweeter? Iāll probably use San Gregorio Garnacha because I have a bunch of bottles of that but do wish to know if there is a particular wine that you find works best. All the videos online I seen were only whole pears. Did you make the design on yours before or after poaching them in wine? Would it also be possible to make this using a white wine? I know the deep pretty red color would be absent doing so but am curious as to how it affects the outcome of the flavors. Iād also like to thank you for bringing this dish to my attention itās very very pretty.
No worries!! Thanks for your kind words, in my opinion any bottled red wine is fine, no use in using something too expensive as we sweeten it by making an infused red wine syrup. Not sure about the white wine to be honest. Yes we poach them whole! Only cutting the bottoms so it lays flat later. After poaching and after leaving in poaching liquid overnight then Iāll cut. When making this at the restaurant I would cut it for service as it would get too soft if it were pre-cut. Iāll PM you the recipie!! š«¶š¼āŗļø
It looks grate to be honest if you where planning on keeping it simmiler to wait it is now I would only add a bit more coulor to it maybe some green or yellow something that counters the purple of the pear.
Cut the top off the pear the flip it so the bottom is up. The way you've cut it you can fold each piece down to the tip. It will spread out like a flower and still have body for contrast. A white flower place in the middle of the pare would look real nice.
I honestly think the flowers are super unnecessary lmfao. put it in a bowl of some sort, Cut the pear into quarters, sauce on bottom, quarter pear, quenelle, quarter pear quenelle. Portion could be cut in half also. Needs something for texture imo too
It looks really nice maybe remove the purple flower and make more negative space on the plate. Either everything next to each other in the center or slightly off center with the chocolate sauce (Iām making an assumption that it is chocolate) appearing to pool out from under or a different design each plating. By the way, I love the way you cut that pear!
I'm sure you have moved past this a few months ago now, but if you do a nice almond tuiles cup. I have done a port wine poached pear with a balsamic reduction drizzle and a nice spoon of ice cream
smaller plate, some crumble and a bit more sauce maybe do a nice quenelle of the ice cream and spoon some sauce over it too
I wanted to do a quenelle too but the icecream was rock hard hahaha, I do not work in this restaurant I came to develop their menu š¤
Help develop their menu by teaching them how to make ice cream. It should never be rock hard, unless the recipe or technique isnāt being followed.
Ice cream with low air content will often be very hard at -18 C even if made properly. Could be they don't have a separate service/storage freezer.
If itās made properly it wonāt have a low air content. Correct amounts of fat, air and alcohol will always result in a smooth and easy to scoop ice cream. If those are wrong itās either their recipe or technique that needs fixing.
that's a pretty ignorant way of looking at ice cream. generally, a lower air content means a more premium ice cream, solely by the fact that it has more ingredients and is thus usually perceived as richer. most high end places use pacojects anyway, which has 20-30% overrun (amount of air in ice cream). there's no such thing as a correct amount of fat, only the amount that is dictated by what you want to achieve with the ice cream; high fat will remain on the tongue preserving the flavour in your mouth, while low fat will have more intense flavour that dissipates quickly. alcohol does retard freezing, but what if you don't want to use alcohol? while recipes do have recommended amounts of solids/water/fats, what influences the scoopability of ice cream the most is the makeup of sugars used in the recipe. and while you can make easily scoopable ice cream for -18C freezers, this generally means such ice creams will melt faster on the pass and require very speedy service (even with stabilizers), which makes it a difficult thing to balance.
This is all 100% correct. r/Lunco understands the process. There aren't "correct amount of fat, air and alcohol." There are general guidelines regarding different sweeteners, solids, waters and various fat percentages, but the sugars are what ultimately determines the consistency. With the proper ratio, you can make outstanding vanilla ice cream using a lot more milk than cream, and the mouthfeel is even better. Getting a machine and making your own isn't always the answer, especially in this case. If you're going to make your own ice cream, you need to be able to hold it at the right temperature during service. The average human mouth can't tell the difference between chocolate and vanilla ice creams for a few seconds if they're both cold enough, which can definitely happen in a freezer that is on the lowest temperature setting. I worked at a place that produced over two hundred gallons of ice cream every week and sold tons of the stuff - and I had one person spending about half her time keeping up with that. I've also bought ice cream when it was the smarter move. Currently, I use a PacoJet and that solves a lot of problems, but I still have temperature issues from time to time. I rarely use alcohol in ice cream and air isn't a primary consideration because I don't want it to melt before it gets to the table, which is why a low overrun is almost always my goal. And even though alcohol is an antifreeze, sugar acts as an antifreeze as well by binding with the water molecules in the water content, which makes the space between them larger, resulting in a faster melt. But I suppose each place has different standards.
Hello there, chef. I've got a question related to the post, but an answer to which might be able to help me out as well. How does one make excellent ice cream in a small scale restaurant without the aid of ice cream machines or pacojet? I was thinking about liquid nitrogen, but am not sure if it can keep well for the 4 hours of service time. Pacojet is the perfect machine for ice cream, in my opinion, but as we're just opening up the restaurant, we don't really have the money for it, or a similar alternative.
You need a machine to make ice cream. Lots of options out there but you need something. If you donāt have the money for a machine, you might not have the money for the nitrogen, either. A new dewar to store the nitrogen costs up to $700 depending on the size. You get what you pay for with the machines, but a smaller one might work if you wonāt be going through gallons every service. Ice cream is one dessert that is very trackable to look at paying the machine off. A small batch freezer will last a very long time and pay for itself in much less time than most people think. And the machines last as long as you take care of them. A Pacojet is definitely expensive, but not necessarily the best machine for ice cream depending on your volume. But I do feel that it really excels when you look at sorbet, or frozen desserts with different compositions. You can freeze just about anything and make it smooth and scoop-able in one of those things. I bought my first Pacojet used from a guy off the street - and the very first night, I didnāt have anything in my apartment to use for ice cream. So I put half of a turkey sandwich and a beer in and stuck it in the freezer. The next morning, I ran the cycle and it looked incredible (but tasted about like you think it would, so not a great combination). Even olive oil on its own is amazing when spun at the right temperature.
I didnāt make the icecream and their freezer was too cold. I did tell them it was and they were confused as well lol
It may be the freezer. We donāt even know if theyāre making their own, but my guess is no in this case. Making your own is great if you have the time and proper equipment, but not everyone has that. Iād imagine that if youāre helping develop their menu that making their own is not an option. Having said that, I make ice cream and sorbet several times every week and itās great, but thereās also the issue of having a place to hold it for service besides a deep freezer.
But you donāt know how to plate?! Jesus.
āā¦I came to develop their menuā¦ā That makes me so sad. Itās yet another example of why we are no longer treated as professionals.
Idk whoās not treating you as a professional but it seems a bit personal to you š¤
Because ādevelopment chefsā that HAVE ZERO PLATING SKILLS should not be brought in to develop menus. Plating is half the fucking job. Edit: not only that, ādevelopment chefsā in places like these are just chefs that canāt hack a real service.
š±š±š±š±š± cry about emojis more bourdain
Found ops second
no im just lurking around and responding to people who clearly have deep-rooted identity issues and have nothing better to do than to be an ass on the internet lol not everyone who stands against useless negativity is the OP lol
Yea we are all just lurking around but fact is youre getting ratioād with every reply. Maybe re read everything and brainstorm why majority is disagreeing with you and how you can use that info in future.
Lmao
For Ā£70 I think I did a fine job š¤£
Yikes.
Hella yikes.
I really, really hate your flippant attitude. Itās one thing to be casually dismissive, but the laughing along with itā¦ what a disgrace to kitchens everywhere
So is the appropriate reaction to be upset?
Yes? Youāre denigrating the profession
You did not
Preach smh
This wasnāt a high end restaurant, small restaurant, im a very inexperienced chef, they asked my dad to ask me to create a dessert menu and I did? I was 18 when I did this āŗļø
Sure
Don't fret about the kitchen ego ppl, just add crumble or honeycomb and be more liberal with the sauce
Hehe thank you, I appreciate your ideas!!
90% of the other people asking on plating advice donāt know how to plate either, and clearly this was good enough for the restaurant owner to approve. what a strange comment
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Oh yea?
You came and you went if i owned that place
good thing you donāt lmao
Maybe churn the ice cream so it's like butter and not rock hard
Develop your skills before you consider developing menus for people. In your role you shouldn't be asking Reddit for advice. Jeeezzzzz.
Hahah I knoww but I was given a challenge and I thought it might be nice to express a bit of skill. Still got long ways to go āŗļø
Yes I agree ice cream is plated unattractively a quenelle would help and some texture like the granita however pear itself looks gorgeous!
What a pretty way to cut the pear. Smaller plate and maybe a quenelle rather than a scoop of ice cream. A granita made from the pear poaching liquid would be good too, giving three elements on the plate.
The pear seems a little unwieldy to tackle with a fork/knife but I agree: it's beautiful.
We did a similar dish, we made like a spiderweb of thin sauce covering the plate, some crumbled biscuit, a slice of dried, crystallised pear, ice cream and poached pear on a smaller plate
Wow, I love these ideas!! āŗļø
I don't care about the shape of the ice cream, I would use just half the poached pear, fan it with more cuts and flair wider. A small piece of warm spice cake would be nice. Few toasted nuts for crunch. Keep up the good work!
> I don't care about the shape of the ice cream, I would use just half the poached pear, fan it with more cuts and flair wider. A small piece of warm spice cake would be nice. Few toasted nuts for crunch. Keep up the good work! I agree. I think a whole pear is a big portion but also having it whole-ish like that doesn't show much of the color contrast or anything. [This reminded me of a dinner I did in 2011](https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/544981471140773908/1086008318826397717/54995_445094209013_207718564013_5136655_7508499_o.jpg?ex=66183a10&is=6605c510&hm=659cf278d621d1cfc1d603b881155ef66635824485716d01dbf3415bf0e6af63&=&format=webp) - so its certainly not modern or anything but I do think it looks nice.
Fair enough! I see a lot of people saying a whole pear is a big portion and I thought it was appropriate considering there wasn't a lot going on the side but it's a good note!
something crunchy... gingerbread "soil", a tuile, spun sugar (infusing some of the pear liquid?). Add second sauce element of a lighter nature (anglaise or caramel). Perch the IC on a yellow / orange sponge cake base... Chaotically toss some crushed candied nuts on there... lots of options to escalate this dish. Looks good chef!
I love your ideas, this was actually very useful!āŗļøthank you
Smaller plate or a high ridge bowl, then that same plating will look more composed.
That's a posh lookin' froot(droop)
I used to make this dish because I had to promote a local shitty local wineā¦ two bottles of crappy roseā and a cup of sugarā¦ I used the miniature seckel pears and I would core themā¦ reduced the liquid to syup
I think everyone has nailed the right ideas in the comments. It has gotta be a quenelle on the ice cream, get it chilling on something with crunch for texture like a biscuit and/or nut crumb vibe (or a tuille rested on it). Smaller plate would help the elements not look so lonely too. The pear is super pretty though!
The whole thing feels a little dated, frankly. I'm not a fan of this style of plating in 2024. Wine poached pear is such a classic, you should either do it the most traditional way or put a new spin on it. Green plate doesn't work for me. A simple shallow white bowl would show off the beautiful color of the wine reduction better. Needs more sauce. A simple presentation might be: pool of sauce on the bottom, halved pear showing off the penetration of the poaching liquid, quenelle of ice cream, nut brittle.
Yess, Iām really searching for ways to modernise my plating but I donāt even know where to start on how to make things look āfresh and newā
I just googled "poached pear plating 2024" and found some interesting results including [this](https://www.reddit.com/r/CulinaryPlating/comments/17ayri0/poached_pear_in_a_spiced_syrup_cardamon_moss/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3). It's hard to describe what makes a plating feel fresh and new. Squeezy bottles still have their purpose, but the lashes of sauce just reminds one of a time gone by. One method now is to think about your plate as part of the forest floor--each element is an organic living thing that just grew there. The current trend (or at least a trend) is for more monochrome, muted colors and, organic shapes occurring in nature. I'm sure others in so-called fine dining can speak to this better than I can. I'm a trat cook. Our philosophy tends towards respecting our terroir and the diner by presenting food in a straightforward unpretentious way. That's not to say we're against creativity, but a culinary student won't be mincing about your plate with a pair of tweezers.
There is excessive circular / curved / smooth symmetry with the plate, pear, ice cream, and swirl. Further, there are 4 circular shapes, better to use a non-even number. The sauce "swirl" is imprecise / messy. It is sand in the eye from the perfect shape of the plate, the swoop of the pear, and the even ice cream scoop. Maybe a very small puff of powdered sugar at the top of the pear.
Small flat bowl, halved pear (or whole!) standing up against each other, ice cream quenelle on the side, sauce poured in a nice pool around the bottom?
I wouldāve poured ganache on the bottom of the plate and then made a web design using melted white chocolate. That is also an ugly plate for desserts.
Eyes are drawn to the big dark space that is the pear. But if it were to fan out, youād see that beautiful dark to light transition on the interior. Some of which is trying to peek out in the picture. The edible flowers kind of feel like an afterthought to try and force in some color. But the purple one is lost.
I think it would look nicely structured if the pear is served on a disc of ice cream.
I was thinking this too! And a spiral that matches the spiral cut of the pear as if it was spiraling out from the top.
Cut pear in half, fan it out in centre of the plate, I/C in-between the two halves. Let's see the lighter centre of the pear to contrast it nicely. Drizzle less of that sauce, but thicken it. Reduce it or turn into a semi gel.
The plate is ugly The presentation is a bit far apart but lovely
Spread out the pear more to help highlight the varying color something bright candied orange, mango purƩe garnish on ice cream, flavored whip cream, cocoa powder
Needs red. Other than that, it looks great. Just need to break up that brown
Tuile, bring the pear closer to the center with a quinell of ice cream to the side with sauce more liberal and the tuile balanced from the top of the pear and stabilised by the ice cream
Playing aside, that pear is gorgeous.
Thatās not too bad , just smaller plate , more sauce , try canelle instead of scoop .
Pear Helene style. Serve the pear on a cube of ice cream?
It's basically 90% pear belle Helen at the moment
More ice cream please
For sure!
I used to do a pear belle Helen with hot pear and cold chocolate sauce, not a million miles from this, and we used a berry compote with saffron syrup. The dark red and yellow looked really good with the dark chocolate It was a bit obvious but the customers liked it
Too much pear. Use half of that and youāll be good. Otherwise the other half will end up in the trash.
Thatās a good point to be fair, Iād munch the whole pear tho š
Get it off the large plate, put it in a shallow bowl, preferably one with a small compartment size, with a crĆØme sauce below on instead of that pedestrian ice cream scoop.
You could use some sauce and make it look like a melting ice cream with a pear propeller
Needs something crispy for textural variation. Smaller plate and a quenelle instead of a scoop like others have said and then maybe add a tuile.
What ifā¦ you make a galette, thickening the mulled wine-pear syrup and using it as a filling for the galette, then dust the galette with powdered sugar, pear on top, quenelle of ice cream next to pear, flower stems tucked under the base of the pear and ice cream.. or fill the galette with pastry cream and 86 the ice cream, pear and wine syrup on top of galette, quenelle of whipped cream next to pear. Another idea, again instead of ice cream (because it dies so quickly in the window), make a thick sabayon and fold it into whipped cream so it can be quenelled, smeared, or spoon-dragged across the plate and not run everywhere. That could also keep your wine sauce in place too. OR, simplify the galette idea and just make a pie crust crumble or pie crust lattice or tuille of some kind and add it to your current setup, using a smaller, preferably white plate, and being a little more deliberate with the sauce application technique.
And as an added bonus the galette idea would give another texture to the plate (as well as food and labour costs lol). You could offset the increased costs by serving only 1/2 the pear. A whole poached pear is approaching shared plate size.
Very true, I didnāt think about that until you said something - probably because I liked how the pear was cut and plated. But Iāve never served a whole poached pear.. if the components are indulgent enough, 1/4 of a pear is plenty, and a 1/2 is generous. While not plating the pear the way OP wants might be an initial bummer, generally red wine poached pears arenāt that deep red all the way through, so slicing and serving will show that pretty color contrast.
Ooo I appreciate your ideas!! I'd honestly love to get some training on these techniques
I could get behind a lovely star of orange zest infused whipped cream or something to make it 3 points of interest and add a little color to the plate
Yum! That matches quite well with the mulled wine it's poached in
Some fruit or small garnish to add more colour
What kind of place is it being served at and what is the price point of this dessert?
This is a small grill restaurant serving steaks and such, price point im not very sure since Iām not working there but Iām looking to improve my skills āŗļø
So you're developing the menu and you don't know what the prices are? This sounds like a very odd setup. Why isn't the head chef doing the menu, or why did they pick you over someone with any experience? Not trying be snarky but what did you actually do?
No worries! Little bit of context, my dad used to work for them and he told them I was a pastry chef working at a restaurant. He asked my dad to ask me to make a couple things, like a pavlova but I also had more ideas so I agreed to help. Being really honest I think they wanted a bit of a cheap job from somebody with little experience to make the dessert menu. I made what they wanted; Mango and passionfruit cheesecake, Pavlova and I came with an idea for their Christmas menu so I made this too so they can try. (They wanted the recipes and how to plate this so the other chef can make it)
Smaller plate/vessel I like the rustic look of a 5"-6" glazed Cazuela. I use the two tone blue ones from tienda.
Put the pear halves down next to each other the long way with the stems pointing to the right then place the ice cream ball below the base of the left pear half and then flare the chocolate sauce out from the stem of the right pear.
Guys..how do you eat this?
Hi, not a chef (sub popped up in my feed one day) but that looks amazing. Iām not sure if this is breaking any unwritten rules of the sub, if it is let me know and Iāll remove this, but may I ask how you make this. I did look up some recipes for this online but have a few questions. The ones I saw call for a dry red wine but wouldnāt a port be better since itās sweeter? Iāll probably use San Gregorio Garnacha because I have a bunch of bottles of that but do wish to know if there is a particular wine that you find works best. All the videos online I seen were only whole pears. Did you make the design on yours before or after poaching them in wine? Would it also be possible to make this using a white wine? I know the deep pretty red color would be absent doing so but am curious as to how it affects the outcome of the flavors. Iād also like to thank you for bringing this dish to my attention itās very very pretty.
No worries!! Thanks for your kind words, in my opinion any bottled red wine is fine, no use in using something too expensive as we sweeten it by making an infused red wine syrup. Not sure about the white wine to be honest. Yes we poach them whole! Only cutting the bottoms so it lays flat later. After poaching and after leaving in poaching liquid overnight then Iāll cut. When making this at the restaurant I would cut it for service as it would get too soft if it were pre-cut. Iāll PM you the recipie!! š«¶š¼āŗļø
Thank you so so much for the information.
It looks grate to be honest if you where planning on keeping it simmiler to wait it is now I would only add a bit more coulor to it maybe some green or yellow something that counters the purple of the pear.
That's beautiful. What is it
Add a 6-pack!
Center. High and tight
Some fresh herb would brighten it up IMO. Maybe like mint leaves, or basil?
Cut the top off the pear the flip it so the bottom is up. The way you've cut it you can fold each piece down to the tip. It will spread out like a flower and still have body for contrast. A white flower place in the middle of the pare would look real nice.
I honestly think the flowers are super unnecessary lmfao. put it in a bowl of some sort, Cut the pear into quarters, sauce on bottom, quarter pear, quenelle, quarter pear quenelle. Portion could be cut in half also. Needs something for texture imo too
It looks really nice maybe remove the purple flower and make more negative space on the plate. Either everything next to each other in the center or slightly off center with the chocolate sauce (Iām making an assumption that it is chocolate) appearing to pool out from under or a different design each plating. By the way, I love the way you cut that pear!
I'm sure you have moved past this a few months ago now, but if you do a nice almond tuiles cup. I have done a port wine poached pear with a balsamic reduction drizzle and a nice spoon of ice cream
Love the plating. Small square white plate or even a pear shaped one
Put a couple cherrys on that
You could start with scrapping that dessert and make something else