In class, we defined Fusion cuisine as “the combining of ingredients, techniques and presentations of different ethnic cultures for the purposes of creating a unified dish”. When you think about it, a lot of modern-day restaurants feature dishes in the fusion style, combining in the same dish many different tastes and flavors that until fairly recently, no one would’ve dared to feature on the same plate. In comparison to the classical French cuisine covered earlier in the semester which strives for balance of ingredients, fusion cuisine is all about creating a unique flavor profile for a particular dish. This flavor profile consists of a few different elements; low notes (deep, earthy, robust, lingering flavors like anchovies, mushrooms, fish sauce), middle notes (more subtle and less lingering flavors like salad greens and vegetables, chicken) and high notes (bright and ‘cutting’ flavors like citrus, herbs, spices and chilies). Additionally, some ’roundness’ should be present in the dish, provided by certain ingredients that help to blend all of the flavors together, like butter, cream, reduced stock….generally, items that contain some amount of fat. The overall range of flavors featured in a dish is said to represent the dish’s depth of flavor. Tasters should be able to determine each of the individual notes in a successful ‘fusion’ themed dish.
Hoisin Marinated Tuna with Banana Salsa, Fufu and Quick Seared Asian Greens:
My partner and I volunteered to make this dish. Fufu is a staple dish in parts of Africa, generally prepared with starchy root vegetables that have been boiled and mashed to the desired consistency. This recipe called for a plantain (a fruit similar to banana, yet starchier and far less sweet) to be boiled until tender, then mashed together with coconut milk, turmeric, butter, brown sugar, sesame oil, salt and pepper. Presented on top of the fufu was the tuna, marinated in a mixture of hoisin sauce, sesame oil and cracked black peppercorns. The tuna was very quickly seared, just to color the outside of it, then thinly sliced. The banana salsa was spooned over the tuna. It was made by combining finely diced red pepper with ginger, cilantro, chili sauce, fish sauce, orange juice and a diced banana. The ‘Asian greens’ included baby bok choy and mustard greens seasoned with oyster sauce and sesame seeds, quickly cooked over very high heat. The final garnish was a few slices of deep fried plantain. Overall, we were happy with the way that our dish came out in that all of the individual components tasted good and were well seasoned, though our presentation missed the mark a bit. We were dinged for using a red plate (my fault, I thought that it would be appropriate), which didn’t really serve to highlight the bright color of the quickly seared tuna.
Seared Scallops on Crispy Spinach with Lemon Dijon Vinaigrette:
The scallops were coated with a mixture of white and black sesame seeds and quickly seared, then served on top of deep fried spinach. A vinaigrette made with minced shallot and garlic, lemon juice and Dijon mustard was drizzled on top of the scallops and spinach. An additional garnish of deep fried tomato slices was also placed on the plate.
Plantain Crusted Snapper Composed Salad with Grilled Corn and Sweet & Sour Pineapple Vinaigrette:
The plantain was grated then applied as a coating to the red snapper, which was then seared (to set and brown the plantain crust) and finished in the oven. The salad was composed of mesclun greens, papaya, mango and avocado and topped with a vinaigrette made from finely minced garlic and shallots, white vinegar, pineapple juice, sesame oil and corn oil. It was all presented on a plate along with the grilled corn and a garnish of deep fried corn husks.
Wok-Tossed Shrimp on Jack Cheese Grits with Rouille Beurre and Chive Oil:
The shrimp were marinated in hoisin sauce and black pepper, then quickly cooked, along with some shiitake mushrooms, water chestnuts, red pepper and green onion. They were served on top of grits that had been flavored with grated Monterey Jack cheese and placed into molds. The rouille buerre is a take on the traditional red pepper sauce that is served alongside Bouillabaisse; it was made with red bell pepper and jalapeno pepper, along with garlic, shallots, a little bit French bread that had been soaked in fish stock (used as a thickener), red wine vinegar and finally, cubes of chilled butter, added at the very end of the cooking process. The girts were tasty, but were more reminiscent of firm polenta than the creamy, Southern staple advertised.
Duck Rillettes Ravioli with Wilted Arugula, Sweet Corn Sauce and Balsamic Essence:
Duck thighs and legs were coated with a dry rub made from salt, pepper and five-spice powder, browned, then braised until the meat was fork-tender. The cooked duck meat was shredded, mixed with some of the braising liquid, then filled inside of freshly made pasta dough (achieving its yellow color through the addition of saffron and turmeric). The sweet corn sauce includes corn kernels, cream, duck stock, sugar and nutmeg while the balsamic essence is made from heavily reduced balsamic vinegar, flavored with star anise, garlic and sugar. I’m not quite sure that the sweet corn sauce worked with this dish…I personally preferred the ravioli on their own with just a bit of the balsamic essence. I think I would’ve liked the corn sauce to be just a bit more savory as opposed to sweet.
I can’t say that this was one of my most favorite classes. The concept of bringing many different components together for the purposes of creating a unified dish is certainly not a bad idea, yet I couldn’t help but think that many of these dishes were nothing more than a random cobbling together of various ingredients that don’t necessarily play well with each other. When sampling each dish, Chef J encouraged us to taste all of the components of that dish together to taste the ‘unified flavor’ and how all of the different notes mingled with each other. Certain components in each of the dishes worked for me, but in many cases (like with the sweet corn sauce), the whole wasn’t always greater than the sum of the individual parts.
