Sauces Quotes

The next dish arrived, a small bowl of morels cooked in brown butter served with maitake mushroom broth, complex and unctuous. The morels were harvested the year before, pickled and preserved, and served with a hand-carved appetizer fork. The concentration of flavor brought images of the woods to her mind, from the mossy forest floor to the tree canopy high above. This dish was followed by marigold flowers fried in an incredibly light tempura and then salted, served with an egg yolk dipping sauce. Then walnut "tofu," surrounded by grilled rose petals, topped with a sunflower seed mole, herbs, and tiny flowers, and a caramelized milk tart stuffed with cheese and thinly sliced black truffles, the flavor nutty and savory. "That's better than sex," Cassie overheard Eamon say from across the table, eyes closed and head back in rapture.

The next dish arrived: seaweed, scampi, and squid, sautéed in garlic and butter, served with a simple broth, followed by a modest bowl of tortellini topped with minced herbs. Before taking a bite, Cassie photographed the plate and examined it closely. "I've read about this dish," she said, suddenly remembering an entry in James's journal. "It's like Italian xiaolongbao. This is the chef's signature dish." "Well, let's give it a go." Cassie scooped up one of the glistening pieces of pasta in a gilded spoon, so that she could examine it at eye level. The pasta was so thin that it was almost sheer, barely containing the liquid inside. She put it into her mouth and pushed her tongue to the roof of her palate, releasing the warm and unctuous carbonara sauce in a quick explosion of cream and salty pork.