I enjoy planning a menu for a party. I decide the dishes depending on what my guests prefer. Once that’s done and revised, I focus on the individual dish. I look for balance in colour, flavours, cooking technique and, finally, presentation. Something fried will be complemented by a fresh salad; a steamed dish will have a buttery sauce and so on. I like to keep it simple. But even simple food can look beautiful and interesting. And that’s most fun. I enjoy plating a dish in a manner that delights the diner.
That involves more than just pulling out fancy flatware and coloured glass. I like to look at the ingredients that I’m cooking with and turn them into platters. When I was young, my mother would set aside scooped-out orange halves, wash and clean them and use them to set jelly. They were called jelly boats, an idea inspired from a Woman’s Weekly cookbook. Years later, it was my turn. I cleaned coconut shells and set jelly in them. My eight-year-olds were beside themselves with excitement as they ate blood-red jelly off a coconut-shell boat, complete with a pirate flag in the middle. They then reused coconut shells often for various things, including a cookery competition at school.
Most fruits and vegetables can be used for such a presentation. For the hot summer months, my pick is the watermelon. For a March luncheon, I serve a salad using the watermelon as a bowl. The easiest way is to cut the fruit in half — choose one with a slightly flatter base. Using a melon baller, scoop out little rounds into an empty bowl, until only the paler edge remains. Add the remaining salad ingredients to the fruit. Chill the filling and the casing separately. Spoon the salad in just before serving, as it tends to give off a lot of water. Tender coconuts are also great not only for serving but for cooking too. Just empty out the coconut water and set aside. I made a prawn curry by adding all the ingredients into the emptied tender coconut, closed it with its own lid and let it cook in a steamer for 25 minutes. It went straight from the steamer to the table. It looked and tasted delicious.
Individual portions of onions, bell peppers and tomatoes can be hollowed out, stuffed with a yummy filling and served. The same can also be done with lobster and crab shells. A portion of crab shell, filled with sweet crab meat and grilled just before serving, is one of my favourites. Good Food magazine had another delicious idea on its cover a few months ago — a yellow pumpkin used as a fondue pot. The bubbling cheese and the toasty bread on the sides were drool-worthy.
My family loves the dish where the big purple aubergine is the hero. Not only are the insides cooked to buttery perfection but the shell is roasted just enough for it to hold its shape. Then the halves are scooped out and filled to bursting point with delicious pasta. The tagliatelle, coated with strands of creamy aubergine flesh, fresh parsley, finely diced garlic, sundried tomatoes and chilli flakes, strikes the perfect note. The skin goes from leathery to softly edible. The grilling adds a smoky element that blends beautifully with the olive oil and rock salt. Guaranteed to make your diners devour it, first with their eyes and then when they eat it.
Read more about food on Shanthini’s website www.pinklemontreerecipes.com
