Kris wrote about Alinea:

> Yep, that was after I moved. I looked at that link - sounds
> impressive! Do you have a favorite recipe from that cookbook?

The main things I took away from that cookbook were the ideas of:

1. Thinking of recipes in terms of combinations of flavors

2. Innovative ways to combine flavors and present food


My birthday menu is currently only in the stage where I've decided on some
of the flavor combinations. In some cases I have tentatively decided how to
combine them:

* Cucumber, mint, and dill
(I think this course will be a cucumber-infused gelatin with powdered mint
leaves and dill)

* Cheddar, smoked tomato, and watercress
(maybe a demitasse of smoked tomato soup with cheddar croutons and a
garnish of watercress puréed in oil.)

* Cornbread, honey, and black pepper
(no fancy manipulation required: Just those three items together)

* Pork, plums, and habañero chiles
(maybe pork chops with a plum-habañero salsa. Or maybe pork braised with
plums, habañeros, and honey.)

* Watermelon, balsamic vinegar, and shiso
(maybe watermelon vacuum-packed with balsamic and garnished with shiso. Or
maybe a watermelon-balsamic-shiso sorbet.)

* Milk chocolate, cinnamon, and apricot
(This will require some explanation: I plan to make an apricot "anti-lava"
thingy. A "lava" cake is cooked on the outside but still liquid inside. I
plan to make a concentrated apricot purée which will be frozen on the
outside but still liquid inside. I haven't decided how I'm going to
incorporate cinnamon and milk chocolate.)

I don't plan for any of the courses listed to be very big, so I might add
some more courses, especially considering that the menu doesn't have much in
the way of vegetable dishes. My birthday is in early September, which means
it will be very hot and dry here, and the following things will be in season
locally:

Avocado
Blackberries
Eggplant
Grapes
Lettuces
Okra
Peppers
Radish
Raspberries
Sunchokes (and sunflower sprouts)
Tomatillos

uncommon but also in season:
Salsify
Burdock
Mulberrries
Purslane

Since sunchokes and avocados both have vaguely nutty flavors, I'm thinking
of making a sunchoke-avocado salad with a dressing containing almond oil as
another course. If I can find mulberries and just-caught trout, I could
combine them somehow too; I think that could be a good combination if done
in the right way. At any rate, there's plenty of time between now and
September, so all of this is open to change.

Bob