The best thing to happen to a dish is the incorporation of some crunch. I think Taco Bell’s Crunchwrap is a brilliant, marketable title. To the American palate, crunch is tops. Along the same line, so is crisp. In fact, a menu trend is to recast chips as crisps. Crisps sound a little more elevated, and perhaps fresher. After all, we know potato chips come in plastic bags. Crisps don’t carry the same baggage.
We will start seeing more crisps incorporated into dishes for a few reasons. Many of the seasoned chefs I interview for magazine articles explain their goal for a dish to “bang on all cylinders.” That means a dish must include various flavor components (sweet, salty, acidic, etc.) and various textures. Right now, it seems to be a fine-dining goal, but I believe it is spreading. Thus, adding something crispy to the dish makes for a well-rounded intriguing offering any segment can accomplish.
So, what is being crisped these days? An easy one is wonton crisps, and they aren’t relegated to Chinese dishes. Consider Orlando-based Joe’s American Bar and Grill’s Honey Chicken. It’s topped with mesclun greens, sesame noodles, diced tomato, toasted sesame seeds and wonton crisps—topped with honey Dijon dressing. Interesting combo.
Crispy shallots (an elevated version of crispy onions) are showing up as dish finishes. Root vegetables may not be everyone’s favorite, but crisped? Maybe guests think of them in terms of Veggie Straws in which they don’t even resemble their origins. And so I see taro root crisps atop the Coconut Lobster Bisque at The Dining Room in Little Torch Key, Fla. Crisped beets are an appetizer headliner at Narcissa in New York. Its Rotisserie-Crisped Beets also feature bulgur salad, apples and creamed horseradish.
Some are taking the track of bacon—crisped pork, after all. Nothing is better than that. And so, how about crisped pastrami on Smoked Hash? It’s at The General Muir in Atlanta. Cheese, we know, also makes for great crisping. Parmesan crisps have been around for ages.
But if you notice, most of the crisp action is happening at independent fine-dining restaurants where they have the time and labor power, unlike limited-service restaurants. But that segment is where I think we’ll start seeing more of this crispy texture play.
At the recent annual Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) Meeting & Food Expo in Chicago, Ardent Mills introduced whole grain crisps. They are available to the foodservice masses as Ancient & Heirloom Grains; Sustagrain Barley; and Quinoa. I imagine we’ll see these at salad chains and fast casual restaurants, probably as options in their customizable manner. It’s a brilliant line of BFY crisps to match the healthy ethos of many of these eateries.
I think we haven’t seen anything yet when it comes to crisps on the menu.
Tell me what you think.
Jody
