The Art of the Menu
In which we learn about the creative process of conceiving, researching, articulating and crafting a dinner menu at Holly Hill Inn. Because it’s February, we’re focused on Valentine’s Day, which we celebrate every year by creating dishes from aphrodisiacs, literally the foods of love. And because the holiday falls in mid-winter, our usual hyper-focus on seasonality relaxes a bit, and we can have fun exploring unusual and exotic foods and flavors.
We start by researching ingredients believed to be aphrodisiacs ~ their shape and appearance, the presence of certain vitamins and minerals, their stimulating (or relaxing) properties. In the process we turn to history, literature, science and cuisine for ideas. In her numerous essays on aphrodisiacs, Chef Ouita Michel has referenced Hindu, Mayan, Arabic and Roman cultures; and legends and mythology.
“In ancient times, in every culture, food was integral to religious rite ~ what foods were the gods eating? And different foods were considered remedies for nearly every human ailment. We didn't have the local drug store for a little yellow pill; instead ancient love manuals recommended pine nuts at every meal. Women ate rice and eggplant, anything with lots of seeds, to improve their fertility. Very literally, ancient people believed ‘You are what you eat’.”
Aphrodite’s seashell, Casanova’s oysters, Montezuma’s chocolate, honey from the Kama Sutra and pine nuts from the Perfumed Garden. All the stuff of legend but backed up by modern scientific research. Seafood is high in protein, low in fat and a rich source of zinc. Chocolate contains tryptophan, a building block of serotonin, a brain chemical involved in sexual arousal. Honey provides boron, which may regulate hormone levels, and pine nuts are another good source of zinc and healthy fats, too.
Once the list is compiled, it goes on a Google doc to be shared with Culinary Director and Chef Tyler McNabb, Chef Jon Baugh and Chef de Cuisine James Mastin and the magical thinking begins.
Because chefs can consider and remember flavors from thousands of hours of cooking and tasting, they’re able to look at a list of ingredients and run them through mental taste tests, relying on their palate memories for guidance.
According to Chef Ouita, these palate memories form a mental playbook of tastes and flavor combinations. She says that really talented chefs, after years of perfecting their techniques, can create menus with their imagination as inspiration from art, music, poetry, history and mythology flows onto the page, into the kitchen, and ultimately onto the plate.
And at Holly Hill Inn, we have years of menu history which provides reference points to the past and a blueprint for the future. Which is why Chef Tyler was inspired by the Zodiac to create a series of dishes reflecting astrological pairings based on the real life couplings of loved ones. “We tend to reference mythology for the Vday menu, but have never used the Zodiac as far as I can remember. (There’s) something innately romantic about the stars and how they may affect one’s love life.” His starter dish is named “When Stars Align.”
A composed salad ~ “Cancer and Leo” ~ includes tender butter lettuce with shucked stone crab claws, avocado, wasabi, sesame, green onion and rice vinegar. The interplay of flavors and textures represent Cancer and Leo’s innate understanding of each other and their need for commitment and constant care. Wasabi is a stimulant and sesame and rice are both revered as portents of fertility.
In his notes, Chef Jon suggests rich, sensuous iterations of the classics: potatoes and caviar; fresh seafood cradled in an avocado half; a risotto of sunchokes, Camembert, Calabrian chilies and sunflower seeds.
When potatoes were introduced to Europe, they were rare and highly prized and thought to restore vigor to aged lovers. Caviar, like other eggs, is the ultimate fertility symbol. Avocados were scandalously notorious for their anatomically suggestive shape. Chilies contain capsaicin which increases blood flow.
Chef Tyler describes a vegetable plate with asparagus and goat cheese named for Capricorn and Sagittarius. Both signs are protectors; individually one symbolizes uninhibitedness; the other, stability. He considers white asparagus for the dish but wonders if it’s too early in the season. Asparagus was de rigueur for nineteenth century French bridegrooms, who were said to have feasted upon it and nothing else.
Chefs Jon and Tyler both turn to beef, a powerful and potent source of protein, zinc and amino acids. Chef Jon would slather it with red wine butter and serve wilted winter greens dressed in beef fat, and shallot marmalade alongside.
Chef Tyler’s dish presents beef two ways, “Gemini and Taurus” (earth and air) ~ seared ribeye with lemon truffle butter, and cured and smoked spinalis (part of the ribeye cap); served on a bed of Chef Jon’s pillowy prune-studded brioche and sauced with Bordelaise. Gemini and Taurus are an incredibly dynamic match when Venus is involved. Chef Tyler says he may braise the spinalis instead and incorporate it into the Bordelaise; that way its intense flavors will really enhance the sauce.
This dish is a triple play: beef supplies protein, truffles emit chemical scents that mimic pheromones, and the red wine in the sauce contributes resveratrol, a powerful antioxidant which increases estrogen production.
Our working menu also includes Chef Jon’s dish of housemade ricotta, crusty bread and stewed figs. It’s listed on the Zodiac menu as “Virgo and Scorpio”, who have an intensely deep bond and are loyal to one another. Figs are sacred symbols of love, honey provides vigor and stamina, carbohydrates in the bread are converted to energy.
Chef James is our dessert genius. He has dreamt up a tantalizing dilemma. Libra and Aries: air and fire.
First, a dark chocolate ganache torte with caramelized cocoa nibs and rosewater Sabayon. Ruled by Venus, Libra speaks to balance, and as an air sign, it also speaks to all things ephemeral and lacking physical form. The light and airy Sabayon, scented with roses, perhaps love’s most enduring bloom, is tethered to the rich ganache and balanced by the crunch of cocoa nibs.
Aries is represented by a charred pineapple upside-down cake with an Aleppo chile-spiced caramel and Luxardo cherries. Aries is a fire sign, ruled by Mars, and epitomizes passion, action and vigor. Bromelain, a signature enzyme found in pineapple, is known to elevate testosterone production and pairs nicely with the slow burn induced by the Aleppo chile.
Finally, in keeping with our penchant for all things au naturel, we like to send our guests on their tender way with a handful of Good ‘n’ Plenty candies. For millennia, humans have looked to licorice when the libido is lacking. Licorice contains phytoestrogen sterols, which affect sex hormones. Chinese, Egyptians and Hindus have all used licorice to increase arousal and stamina, and in pagan religions, crushed licorice root was used in love sachets. Just make sure you’re ingesting real licorice; licorice flavoring just won’t stand up.
There, we’ve shared (almost) all our secrets of menu-building. A theme, a little research, a history lesson or two, some science, respect for our ingredients and the expertise to prepare them, imagination and taste memory, teamwork and collaboration, a whole lot of love. And you, to make it all worth doing.
© 2022, Holly Hill Inn/Ilex Summit, LLC and its affiliates, All Rights Reserved
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