(Apologies in advance if photos are upside down or sideways…Got an appointment to see a computer person to get fixed)
I noticed a food critic from a certain newspaper earlier this year wrote a plea to restaurants to stop serving ten certain dishes that are found on many restaurant menus. One of these dishes in particular is salmon with a vegetable and a potato. Some of these ten dishes he just thinks are boring, tiered of, uninspiring or not original enough and other reasons. I find this is a fishy reading to me….
The Food Critic went so far to say something like….If every restaurant just replaced salmon with something original or hard to find that menus would be so much better. I’m not against original or far off creative dishes and I do agree with the critic that many menus choices can be tweaked to be more interesting. That really IS.. a good idea. I just think it’s especially not fair to pick on the salmon dish. That is fishy to me….because…..
The Forking Truth is that this is Phoenix Arizona……. The Desert. We are far from water and it’s usually hot here so very little fish makes it here. You just don’t get much edible fish here. Often on many but not all restaurant menus salmon is the only fish option on the menu. The Forking truth is that most people would want a vegetable and maybe a potato if they were eating salmon. I’d be bummed if I didn’t have a vegetable with my salmon and would feel cheated if the restaurant didn’t give me a potato, rice, a fun grain or noodles with my entree.
I don’t understand why the critic didn’t suggest to to remove a steak from the menu. Isn’t steak a similar dish with a piece of meat vegetable and potato? We have lots of steak around Phoenix and it’s pretty easy to pick up pretty good steak at any of the grocery stores here. Everyone in every home can have a nice steak dinner tonight in the Phoenix area tonight it they prepare it themselves or go out to dine.
Getting back to Salmon I don’t know if I took what he wrote the wrong way but it really bothered me that he partially attacked salmon being on many menus. I do look forward to salmon on menus since it’s a treat that I can’t purchase fresh tasting anytime I want from my local stores. Sadly most of the time it’s not fresh tasting to say the least and more often than not it’s inedible and spoiled and I usually have to make a forking trip back to the market to return it. I almost never purchase what they call fresh fish here anymore. If I want to eat salmon I usually have to go out to dinner to forking eat salmon.
Many of the best restaurants in the country do offer salmon on their menus.
I partially enjoyed this salmon I had in at Bouchon in Napa California.
I FORKING doubt I’d be the one telling a 7 star Michelin Chef Thomas Keller that he needs to take salmon off his menu because it’s boring……….. but maybe a food critic would??? I know I forking wouldn’t.
I also enjoyed this Salmon I had at L’Atelier in Las Vegas Nevada.
I also doubt I’d tell the multi Michelin star Chef,that is Chef of the Century and also Meilleur Ouvrier (France Best Craftsman Award) Joel Robuchon that he needs to be more original. Could you forking imagine that?…….(people have forking been shot for less)…. Here is that piece of fish with vegetables and potato! It was stunning and fabulous among one of the best dishes I ever had. I could never get board of something this well done.
I certainly think Chef Keller’s and Chef Robuchon’s restaurants made exquisite dishes that were amazing and not boring and they were salmon.
I don’t think it’s the protein really that makes the dish fabulous. I do admit a certain skill is needed to make the protein shine….But isn’t it really more about the spices and vegetables and how they work together? It boils down to the flavor…that is what you remember.
Part of the joy of going out for a great dinner are the original, different and classic dishes on menus. It’s thrilling when a dish is made with ingredients that are very hard to find like fresh truffles, finger limes, bamboo fungus, red sorrel and corn smut or an unusual spices.
I also would like to enjoy restaurant classics that seemed to have disappeared from most menus like Chateaubriand, Duchess Potatoes, Tables-side service menu items and Real Fondants (lava kind of cakes not frosting).
I sure hope the local restaurants ignore the critic’s plea to rid their menus of salmon. Not everyone out here would prefer offal (organ meat) to salmon and not everyone here has developed a craving for nearly raw eggs in cold broth.
Let’s give this plea a spin just for my amusement ……. I can write that I’m tired of Hamburgers and Chocolate Cake. Because I can find Hamburgers and Chocolate Cake on almost any menu out there almost anywhere. How original is a hamburger? French Fries are always on menus with hamburgers. Can’t Chefs be more creative and figure out something more interesting than French Fries to go with burgers? Every restaurant that serves cake always has Chocolate Cake on the menu. A million other flavors are out there you know. How about Salmon? Ever heard of Salmon Cakes?
Now that is something to write about!
Sometimes you Read Fishy Things!
The Forking Truth
