Need some ideas!

[TeddyWolf]

I'm a sous in a high end kitchen. My exec says she wants all of her crew to come up with ideas for menu changes. So far all my ideas have been rejected. Pan seared lamp chops, chicken cacciatore, beef Wellington...
HELP!!!

 

[Mischief]

It sounds like she wants you to create something new or spin a classic in a new way. Something with your own personal touch that elevates the dish and makes it unique. Without knowing more about the food you currently do, it's hard to make a suggestion that might be conaidered.

 

[TeddyWolf]

It sounds like she wants you to create something new or spin a classic in a new way. Something with your own personal touch that elevates the dish and makes it unique. Without knowing more about the food you currently do, it's hard to make a suggestion that might be conaidered.

I'm in a high end native American restaurant. We do a lot of native foods as well as steaks and seafood. I think we did 275 surf and turf dinners last Monday night

 

[Mischief]

Native American cuisine is definitely not my wheelhouse but my mind goes to buffalo tenderloin with some sort of corn/green chili/cactus side dish. Traditional native ingredients that would pair well and be elevated.

 

[phaedrus]

There's a cool YouTube series where Lakota chefs highlight native foods in a restaurant setting. You might want to check that out. If you're in North America than corn, beans, squash and wild game like bison and venison are things that were commonly eaten. Maybe a Native version of polenta alongside a ragout of bison?

 

[phaedrus]

Succatash is another nice side that utilizes native ingredients. Game birds might also fit the bill.

 

[BluePEI]

Sweet Grass was a great restaurant in Ottawa. They are now closed but some of their ideas might work for you. https://ottawafoodies.com/vendor/914

 

[ShelteredBugg1]

What region of the US are you in that would help out alot more especially with local ingredients and wild game

 

[ShelteredBugg1]

What you're looking for takes research, most native american reservations have places you can call to talk about what their ancestors foraged and hunted from there you can build a plate. I would recommend using peccary back strap as a protein you just have to treat it like goat meat because of the atrocious smell.

 

[L'uovo vulcanico]

Most of the time a chef has to think outsie the box to come up with a menu idea, but in this case you have to start within the box of your restaurant's niche. Start simple - instead of your usual band of standards, throw a native or wild element in - say Duck or Goose Cacciatore, and the sauce having a squash or tuber element? Your Wellington? Why not Buffalo or Elk or Moose. Then your research needs to kick in, for example, one of the native peoples south of us were famous for the HUGE shellmounds of oysters and clams they left behind - and there's TONS of stuff you can do with seafood. We once played with an acorn flour breading, as that's also a staple of the historic native diet out here. It wasn't very successful (it's difficult to leach enough tannin out of it to make it work), but it was a fun project.

Here's the rub. Select an area. Look at the peoples who populated an area, their cullinary tastes, what they ate, build a recipe on that, and then also present the STORY of the dish, what your insporation was, what areas those ingredients were popular or "everyday food" was. You can twist it around to make a "western" dish from "native" foodstuffs... but since that's the wasta of your shop, you need to make sure you atill stick to what your restaurant is all about.

 

[ChefOfAllTrades27]

Wild boar rib chops with pan jus, sauteed wild mushrooms and a hash of sweet potatoes,corn

 

[Transglutaminase]

Cedar planked salmon? ( w/ a drizzle of maple syrup/brown sugar/grated ginger & topped w/ soaked curly julienne green onion)
Fiddleheads?
Sea lettuce salad?
Fry bread (bannock) with A PINCH of dried real wild sage in the dough (a little goes a long way!)?
{edit} And don't forget the wild rice.
They do some stuff with herring roe here, but have never tried it

 

[Chef Piya]

I would suggest you look into your best selling dishes, from there find what exactly they like about it. And try to take the majority favorite and turn those with new technique of cooking. I am sure you can think of something new