Garnishing pros,

1. How are you supposed to drizzle olive oil or a balsamic vinegar
reduction so that it makes droplets like in the photos below?

http://www.calihancatering.com/image...0-year%20B.jpg

http://www.globalgourmet.com/food/fo.../ctable06r.gif

(If the link wraps around, you may have to cut and paste to put back
together.)

Whenever I try to pour the oil from the bottle (or spoon the
reduction), I just get these huge blobs that start to spread
everywhere.

2. Also, is the technique in the photo below just done with a
toothpick?

http://www.calihancatering.com/image...Sea%20Bass.jpg

Thanks all!!!

"George Levine" > wrote in message
om...
> Garnishing pros,
>
> 1. How are you supposed to drizzle olive oil or a balsamic vinegar
> reduction so that it makes droplets like in the photos below?

Beauty supply house and buy their plastic squeeze bottles.

Cut the stem in different places to regulate the size of the hole.

Like this:

http://www.sallybeauty.com/shop/prod...pf%5Fid=198060

Dimitri

In article >,
(George Levine) wrote:

> 1. How are you supposed to drizzle olive oil or a balsamic vinegar
> reduction so that it makes droplets like in the photos below?
>
> Whenever I try to pour the oil from the bottle (or spoon the
> reduction), I just get these huge blobs that start to spread
> everywhere.

Party supply places, or stores like Target, K-Mart, etc., should carry
ketchup/mustard squeeze bottles, like these:
<http://www.twinsupply.com/Vollrath/retail/item52061.html>
(scroll down a bit). They shouldn't cost much more than a dollar each.
Cut off the tip to open them; the smaller you make it, the finer the
control (i.e., the less oil will come out). Make the opening very small
to start. If you want to make the opening a *little* bit bigger, use a
single-edged razor to shave off a layer of plastic (scissors don't
usually do well taking off little slivers).

These bottles are handy for all sorts of things--homemade chocolate
syrup, drizzling oil when making mayo, etc.

Of course, make sure that the ones you buy don't have pre-cut openings.

For the greatest control in making the designs, use a very small opening
and make the drops one by one; that is, don't try to make a circle with
one or two squeezes, but squeeze slightly to make a drop, release, move
to the next spot, squeeze, etc. With that much control, you could send
Morse Code messages to the people you're serving.


> 2. Also, is the technique in the photo below just done with a
> toothpick?
>
> http://www.calihancatering.com/image...Sea%20Bass.jpg

Could be. Or one tine of a fork

--
to respond, change "spamless.invalid" with "optonline.net"
please mail OT responses only

In article >,
says...
> (If the link wraps around, you may have to cut and paste to put back
> together.)
>
>
You can avoid the link wrapping by going to tinyurl.com or
makeashorterlink.com. It's always a good idea to provide both the longer
link as well as the shorter link for archiving purposes.

Your wrapped link:
http://www.calihancatering.com/image...aprese%20with%
20Mozzerella%20Truffle%20and%2050-year%20B.jpg

would look like this:

http://tinyurl.com/2f9ss

or this:

http://makeashorterlink.com/?I4F921DA7

Between the two, I like tinyurl.com a bit better, because it
automatically copies the shorter link to your clipboard so pasting is
easy.
--
Donna
A pessimist believes all women are bad. An optimist hopes they are.

thicken and off a spoon.
http://www.pbase.com/andrcom

"Donna Rose" > wrote in message
k.net...
> In article >,
> says...
> > (If the link wraps around, you may have to cut and paste to put back
> > together.)
> >
> >
> You can avoid the link wrapping by going to tinyurl.com or
> makeashorterlink.com.

Excellent advice!

Thanks all!!!

On 10 Mar 2004 09:47:50 -0800, (George Levine)
wrote:

>Garnishing pros,
>
>1. How are you supposed to drizzle olive oil or a balsamic vinegar
>reduction so that it makes droplets like in the photos below?
>
>http://www.calihancatering.com/image...0-year%20B.jpg
>
>http://www.globalgourmet.com/food/fo.../ctable06r.gif

The first pic looks like a design on a tile. :-) The second might
have been created by ladeling a small spoonful of sauce on the plate
and then either dragging the tip of the spoon to make the 'tail' or
drawing a knife through it afterward.
>
>Whenever I try to pour the oil from the bottle (or spoon the
>reduction), I just get these huge blobs that start to spread
>everywhere.

'Drizzle' isn't 'pour'. Either use a squeeze thingy as others have
suggested, or just carefully drip the sauce from the tip of a spoon.
Oil *does* spread. No way to corral it. If it's thickened up with
other ingredients, like say a green herb puree, it will act more like
a sauce.
>
>2. Also, is the technique in the photo below just done with a
>toothpick?
>
>http://www.calihancatering.com/image...Sea%20Bass.jpg

Toothpick, knife, fork -- whatever pointy thing you have handy.

BTW, you might want to practice this decor on empty plates before
using it in your own presentations. My thought watching some TV cooks
garnish and fiddle with food is pity for the poor diner who's going to
receive a very pretty stone cold 'hot' appetizer or a melted cold one
by the time the chef has everything decorated to his satisfaction.