"retro" type food garnishes

[iceman82]

The place I am working at is kind of antiquated , and there is a local chef that had helped the kitchen before I arrived - one of the things he introduced was what we call a "beet star" where they make straight incisions into a raw beet, then slanted incisions , then slice thin and you get what resembles a circular saw. We then take that, stab a piece of rosemary in the middle and sit on the plate. It is grotesque , BUT the owner loves it, and yes, I am cooking for the owner.

I have looked at some books about fruit and veggy carving, which is quite fascinating, and something I have never really done until now. Problem is, its a bit time consuming. The beet stars take me about a half hour for a super busy night of service, so that is doable. But anything in the books I have gotten is more for catering, which is great, but I am still looking for a different idea for dinner service.

Any thoughts or ideas would be greatly appreciated

 

[chefwriter]

Harvey Rosen has several books on vegetable carving. He is probably a bit dated for modern tastes but probably perfect for what you need. You can do quite a lot with some simple garnishing tools that should be pretty widely available. A mandolin is great for making quantities of different things quickly.
Also JB Prince is a good source for garnishing tools. You might find what you want cheaper somewhere else but their catalogue has a great selection of tools for making veg carvings and garnishes. On my last visit to the JB Prince location in NYC, I saw a device for making vegetable cups quickly. It cost about $60 and I don't need one but it's good to know its there.
Then there are garnishes you can make appropriate to the dish by using an ingredient that's in the dish but preparing it in a different way or raw. Edible flowers were popular for awhile.
Garnishing can take many forms.