Amuse Votre Bouche
Amuse
Votre Bouche
Tantalise your taste buds with these little treats. Make it an exquisite affair or a simple home-do. The amuse bouche is catching on at the dinner table
Text: Farzana Contractor
This very interesting phenomenon which took shape in fine-dining restaurants had its origins in chefs wishing to showcase their creativity to patrons, especially in Michelin-starred restaurants. This happened at some point in the 1970s, in France, as part of the Nouvelle Cuisine movement. The first time that the word was used though, was in 1959.
So what is amuse bouche (pronounced ahmyuz-boosh)? Well, it’s meant to be a small, bite-size portion of a very attractive- looking piece of food served right at the onset of a meal. It is not on the menu, comes compliments of the chef and has a total surprise element. It could be something local to a country or borrowed from another cuisine but is unique. It is almost always served in delicate china or a serving ware equally charming. In a demitasse or a spoon, a tiny plate, or something exotic, esoteric. The idea is to make the presentation very appealing, very different. However, it is served individually, never on a pass-along tray. Each one gets one, amidst gasps of pleasure and squeals of joy. True, it is almost always a visual delight.
Amuse bouche is French and translates literally to mouth-amuser, mouth- entertainer, which actually goes to mean, to please the mouth. Long, long ago, the French were using ‘amuse bouche’ as a word for appetisers while English-speaking people embraced the culinary term almost a quarter century ago.
Appetisers, hors d'oeuvres, are different from amuse bouche. The latter comes free. At the chef’s will, meant to prepare the guest for the multi-course meal. Let’s say, to titillate the palate, awaken the taste buds, so to speak. It could be just one, or even as many as three in quick succession. Depending on the chef and his interest in offering a glimpse of his cooking style that will follow, this is a curtain-raiser.
So what are canapés? Similar, wouldn’t they be? Well yes, canapés are also bite-sized items, usually served cold, and more commonly at parties and galas, eateries and bistros. Amuse bouche is the more evolved counterpart, it has flair, grace and elegance. A lot of style. It could also be more complex, depending on the chef making it. Seasons and trends also play an important part. Like in summer, chefs would go for cold offerings, in winter, something warm or hot, something comforting. But what each morsel would possess is some fantasy, some drama. And it does not necessarily always have to be whimsical, it could even be simple and unpretentious, but always of a high quality and presented beautifully.
The fact that the dish is small, just bite-size, chefs tend to be more adventurous in their attempts at creating amuse bouche masterpieces. They try to incorporate ingredients which would have patrons baulk if it was a main course. Think blue cheese and cardamom or octopus and watermelon. It may not be easy to make a main dish with such ingredients but a small portion is easily accepted by diners. A fun element gets kicked in. So all concerned are happy. The chef definitely gets his highs from being able to experiment with unusual ingredient pairings and techniques as a teaser of what is yet to come. He succeeds at proving his prowess in the kitchen, sets the tone with his finesse…
But there are those who are rather dismissive of amuse bouche because of the size factor. With such a small size they say it wouldn’t matter either way in the scheme of a meal. But here I would like to expound on the very interesting views of Chef Raymond Tham of Skillet (Insta: @skilletat163), a leading chef in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Amuse bouche is hardly an afterthought, he says. “There shouldn’t be any limitations to creating an amuse bouche, as long as the ingredients make sense and allows the diners to look forward to the next course. In my opinion, a good amuse bouche should be something that does not overpower the palate but is more along the lines of flirting with your appetite,” opines Chef Tham, who also enjoys creating amuse bouche at his restaurants that pair well with their house champagne. He says his most bizarre offering anchors jellyfish, which is common in Asian cooking but rare in Europe. His creation comes in the form of dainty delights made of pickled jellyfish, torch-ginger flower (bungakantan), nitro pomelo, Balsamic caviar and avocado cream; which he says goes very well with VeuveClicquot!
He recalls, “I had one of the best amuse bouche during a trip to Lima, Peru. It was a trio of sushi rice cracker with avocado, trout belly and ponzu gel; gourmet sausage, roasted banana, sachatomate emulsion, crunchy tapioca and ponzu; and chawanmushi with Ajinegro.” For the uninitiated, ponzuis a Japanese citrus-based sauce, sachatomate is Peru’s offering of a tree tomato and Ajinegro is a type of black chilli.
So one comes to the conclusion that these little nibbles can be almost anything. Perfumed with aromatic notes, using wines or champagne or any alcoholic beverage. They can explode in the mouth like liquor chocolate balls or be subtle and gentle in their flavours. Nothing is off limits. Acidity, texture and temperature are also elements which may have the chef's focus or fancy.
Like Chef Tham says, and very aptly too, “Amuse bouche is like a trailer to a blockbuster. Let them entertain you.”
Yup, say I, “Amuse votre bouche.” Keep it happy!