Save the Dish

As worth saving as the Parthenon

Inverness has a hip and trendy restaurant, with quite a good standing among the locals and attracts as many vacationers as does the famed Loch Ness monster. And so it obviously became the first place hubby and I chose to dine during our week’s vacation in the ruggedly beautiful Scottish Highlands.

But my bubble of eager anticipation was quickly punctured when my mains arrived. Well, the John Dory was grilled to perfection and aesthetically garnished with finely chopped fresh chilli. However, as I’ve always said, “The test is in the taste”. And in that crucial area this establishment’s attempt at fusion cuisine has much to be desired: one just doesn’t make flakes of chilli the main ingredient, no matter whether it’s fresh from the greenhouse and organically nurtured to fruition on the vine.

Now, I did inform the wait staff about the severe lack in flavour. But I turned down their suggestion that I pick another mains which their chef would prepare in lieu. Rather, I asked that some of the chilli flakes be removed and the fillet salt-and-peppered as well and be re-served with a fresh slice of lemon. That saved the dish!

While I had to add flavours to the fish, I had to save last night’s Greek chef’s Lebanese take on lamb cutlets by moderating the amount of spices he had used. You see, he had creatively turned a raita into a spicy yogurt sauce. But his decision on being liberal in his use of a variety of intense middle-eastern spices has turned the yoghurt awfully bitter; as if finely ground charcoal bits had been added.

But toning down the use of spice couldn’t take all the bitterness out of his sauce. To do that without cutting down the spiciness even further, it was erased by generously mixing in icing sugar. And the resultant spicy sweetness offered a wonderful contrast when lovingly poured over the roasted pink lamb.