How do you create a new dish?

[nonkeyman]

I am always curious how some chefs create their new dishes. I personally tended to either follow a bottom up or top down approach. So I would either start with one ingredient and build a dish, or start with a concept and build a dish. Does anyone else have a different method? How do you iterate, or track your ideas?

 

One way to start bottom up is demonstrated by Grant Achatz below

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Lisa Shock]

For me, it's often just following an idea (like what would it be like to make a loaf of bread with a swirl of savory Indian food inside), seeing where I can amp up the flavor (maybe barely cook the Indian dish before rolling, so it doesn't overcook when the bread heats up), and then work on the negative issues (too much acid, from, say, tomatoes, might ruin the loaf structure).

[Auro]

Some times I like to start with an ingredient. And wanted like a snak in a party or a friends dinner.

I wanted to star with quail eggs. Tried fried, cook, sous vide and poached.

The poached egg had the texture and aparence that I liked.

 

 

The base was a rice cracker. With homemade lard, the mix off the egg and lard was to much oily. So I added a gari flower (japanese ginger preserved).

 

The craking base,  lard and egg taste with the acid gari, with a touch off red pepper was nice snak.

 

Most off the time I start with one ingredient, think in an ocasion, and pairing the textures and flavors.

Edited December 25, 2016 by Auro (log)

[Auro]

Some times I reard a frase our a coment and start to think about this.

I was looking the interview off a brazilian chef Alex Atala and he said that the world think that tapioca is an asian plant. And banana is a american plant. 

Tapioca is a brazilian plant used for long time by the indians.

Thinking this I started with a research off asian food witn tapioca and found the vietnam Ban Bot Loc.

The base off Ban Loc Boc is an tapioca translucedent pasta, like a cristal ravioli.

 

 

Starting with this I thinked in a brazilian dish, The moqueca.

Is a tradicional dish with 2 versions, a Moqueca Baiana and Moqueca Capixaba. The Moqueca Baiana use coconut milk and the Capixaba not.

I made the Moqueca Capixaba, and wrapped in the tapioca pasta.

Made a Dende Oil farofa (another conversation) and a coconut, moqueca stock with xantana gun.

 

 

In this case I started with an ingredient, and an ideia to say a history with my food.

Edited December 25, 2016 by Auro (log)

[Anna N]

Thanks for sharing your thought processes.  I find the subject quite fascinating.