Root to Leaf Concept
We chose to base all menu dishes on the topic “from root to leaf”. This is adding to the well-known trend “from farm to table”, which is about using fresh, locally grown, and sourced foods, and goes one step further: using whole vegetables and fruits, reducing waste as much as possible (At your table, 2020). In this way, we want to show guests creative possibilities of using whole products and their various benefits: reducing food waste, health benefits as well as saving money. Le Début’s guests are mainly students (60%), with the age of 18-28. Therefore, we match the notorious trend of this generation; focussing on sustainable and environmentally friendly and plant based nutrition as well as using the whole product including steam and peels (Hub, 2020)(Klecker, 2021).
From the ingredients to the plating, our cooking philosophy is grounded in our commitment to provide a comfortable, locally-sourced dining experience that pairs a seasonal-minded menu with an inviting atmosphere.
Insights
The average Dutch consumer throws 34kg of good food away, yearly (Timmermanns, 2021). 31% of the total share of food waste are fruits and vegetables in the Netherlands (Statista, 2019). From the environmental perspective, this is a waste of costly resources which were needed to produce and transport the food (Timmermanns, 2021). To prevent waste of vegetables, the easiest way is to show that it is possible to use the whole product for a delicious menu.
Further, using the whole plant supports wallets, since 120,00€ per person of food is wasted yearly in the Netherlands (Voedingscentrum, 2019). Another benefit is the health aspect. The peel and stem are often the most notorious part of the plant (Pelecas, 2019). They are rich in fiber, vitamin C, potassium, calcium, antioxidants, iron and nasunin (ibid).
Food waste is a real challenge, which the F&B team wants to combat with creativity, by coming up with a gourmet menu paired with self-made beverages and a well selected wine paring.
The root to leaf menu is based on six menu rules: different textures, consistencies and shapes of ingredients, different flavours to stimulate taste, pleasing array of colours, a variety of cooking methods and the inclusion of both cold and hot items (The Culinary Pro, 2021).
Different textures
To create a diverse and interesting experience throughout the whole experience of the menu, a variety of textures of the dishes are necessary (Chef menus, 2021).
Accordingly, a menu based on different textures was created. The starter offers the guest an experience of diverse textures. The beetroot is firm cooked, while the beetroot chip offers a crispy experience to bite on. Further, the beetroot terrine gives the guest a creamy experience while the caramelized goat cheese, next to it, offers a crisp outside and a creamy inside after biting on it, creating a melted experience. Additionally, the sphere out of goat yogurt offers a firm outside and a fluent inside. Sourdough leftovers mixed with beetroot dust provide a crunchy component. These combination of firm, crunchy and creamy components makes the menu diverse with regards to texture and give the guest an exciting experience (The Culinary Pro, 2021).
In the intermediate creamy pea puree and sautéed peas are served with firm asparagus, silky mushrooms, and pulpy tomatoes concassé. On top comes a poached egg which offers a creamy mouth experience and a fluent, soft asparagus foam.
Later in the menu the polenta provides a crisp outside and a creamy inside filled with the mushroom mass. The mushroom gets more firm through the cooking process. The tomato gel will give the guests a silky experience and the foam adds liquidity. Red and silver onions get a soft bite through the cooking process and fennel puree adds creaminess.
Finally, the desert provides a crisp short pastry, in contrast to the soft rhubarb gel, firm grilles rhubarb and the soft espuma. The ice-cream, made with cream adds creaminess as well as the meringue adds crunch which melts while eating on the tongue.
Different textures enhance our flavour experience with its individual touch points in our mouth. Further, the sound of the bite enhances the flavour satisfaction. For instance, when the pleasurable sound of biting into the rhubarb pie is heard (Huen, 2017).
Consistencies and shapes of ingredients
The visual appearance is as important as the overall eating experience itself (Tomkin, 2021). It should present the quality of the food and the used techniques as well as stimulate not only taste and smell but also the eye (Culinary Arts, 2020). Additionally, the ingredients themselves should vary and should not repeat throughout the experience. Even though the goal is to use the whole product, the same product is reused only in the same dish. “From root to leaf” consist of different shapes, for instance the beetroot carpaccio is sliced in circles, the polenta is made in squares and the egg is in its natural shape.
Different flavours to stimulate taste
Flavours in a dish are made by a composition off different components, such as cooking method, seasoning and the product itself. The senses, such as smell, taste, texture combined give the foundation of flavour (Hayes, 2020). The basic taste directions are, salt, bitter, sour, sweet, and umami (ibid). To balance a dish all these flavour directions should be combined in a dish.
The beetroot carpaccio provides an earthy component balanced with the sweet-sour marinated part of the terrine and the sweet chip. The caramelized goat cheese adds the sweet part as well and the sphere of goat yoghurt balances with its salted freshness. The pea puree in the intermediate contributes as the soft salty part of the dish, while the asparagus gives some bitterness and the girolle adds umami. The creamy egg yolk balances out the flavours, while the tomato contributes with some sweetness. The polenta, in the main, filled with mushrooms as well as the truffle contributes with their earthy, umami and soft salted taste direction. This is balanced by the bitter taste of the fennel puree and the fresh sweetness of tomatoes and its chip which adds a smoky flavour. The desert is sour due to the rhubarb and sweet due to the elderflower espuma and meringue. The sorrel ice-cream contributes with its bitter taste direction.
Pleasing array of colours
“From root to leaf” should consist of colour variations to make the dishes more appealing to the guest eye, focusing mainly on contrasting colours (Johnson, 2021).
Every main ingredient in the menu “from root to leaf” has a different colour and was added with contrasting colours of the side dishes. This draws attention to the main component. In the starter a vibrant purple is contrasted with the white of the goat cheese/ yoghurt. The main colour of the intermediate is a fresh green of peas added with a bright yellow of the egg yolk. Followed by polenta, which is a soft yellow balanced with some soft purple fennel tones and fresh red through the tomatoes. A light pink in the dessert is matched with some pastel green from the elderflower espuma and a sharp green from the sorrel ice-cream. The fact that colours contribute to the taste of the dish was taken into account by creating the menu (Spence et al., 2010).
Variety of cooking methods
The variety of cooking methods contributes to the quality and diversity of the menu and is essential when it comes to the aspect which taste flavours there should be discovered in the dish. This does not only exhibit the skill and cooking styles of the chef (and PEs) but also makes it more interesting for the guests (McVety et al., 2008). Therefore, different cooking methods are used. For example, the beetroot is boiled, dehydrated to a chip, and marinated. The vegetables in the intermediate are sauteed and the egg is poached, which gives it a soft texture, which is in the inside fluent. The main is fried with butter in a pan, making the polenta “sandwich” from the outside crispy and from the inside creamy, where the pie in the desert is baked.
Inclusion of both hot and cold items
Tempting different senses, hot and cold items of the menu should be important to consider (The Culinary Pro, 2021). This makes the menu a more exciting, complex, and complete overall experience (ibid). Heat and cold benefits the variety and is responsible to bring out different flavours in the dish (ibid). The whole menu is built on a cold amuse and starter followed by a hot intermediate and main and finished by a cold and warm desert. Within the dishes this contrast is built in the starter where the cold beetroot in the main matches the lukewarm goat cheese and the cold sphere. In the desert the lukewarm rhubarb pie matches the frozen sorrel ice-cream and creates therefore a complexity.