seventh slice (and eighth, and ninth)

A week from today, I’ll be in Montreal. I’ve started work on the actual croûtes I’ll be bringing. I’m slightly terrified, but the product is looking pretty good.

This is no. 7, which some of you tasted at Backbar, and is pretty much what the judges and guests will get in Montreal. The circle on the plate is jellied sng nee (literally: garlic paste), the traditional accompaniment to braised duck at a Teochew table. Sng nee is just garlic in rice vinegar, with a pinch of salt. The chili is a Southeast Asian addition. In Swatow, it’s just garlic and vinegar. Either way, it’s more a liquid than a paste. I like mine to be as fine as glitter, and am invariably disappointed by its coarseness in restaurants. The greens are a salad of celery, cucumber, scallions, and cilantro, dressed with olive oil and champagne vinegar. It’s a mashup of two of my favorite salads – the classic Northern Chinese “Tiger Salad” (老虎菜), and the celery salad Gabrielle Hamilton puts on blue cheese toasts. The celery salad is lavishly overdressed, practically marinated, which means I can make that ahead, then have the celery share the dressing with the scallions and cilantro as I plate. Everything stays the texture it ought to be, while tasting like it’s an actual salad to which someone’s paid attention.