What Does It Mean to “finish” a Dish
If you’ve watched any significant number of cooking shows, chances are a famous chef advised you to “finish” the dish by sprinkling with oil, salt, or some freshly ground herbs. Completing a dish, which is different from polishing a single dish, simply means adding those extra touches to make the dish shine and be the best.
There are many ways to finish a dish, but each one involves adding extra flavor, freshness, or texture to complement and enhance your already delicious work. Here are a few of my favorite last-minute taste-enhancing add-ons:
- Really good salt: If I’ve said it once , I’ve said it (realistically) about a dozen times: buy yourself a Maldon and sprinkle it all with these salt pyramids. Not only do they add a flavor that enhances the saltiness of any food – even fruit – that it needs, but they also add a nice crunchy flavor and look really pretty.
- A little extra fat: Fat tastes good, but the taste of really good olive oil – or any other infused oil – can get lost and muffled after cooking. To add some of this flavor again and ensure a rich mouthfeel, drizzle some oil right before serving. Looking to add even more wealth? Brush meat, vegetables, bread, or even pie crusts with melted butter before burying them.
- Lemon Squeeze: Lemon can be added to literally all savory dishes, and it should be. Instead of adding a citrus scent, it just brightens everything up. It brightens and enhances without drawing too much attention to itself. Simply pomace – added at the very end because cooked lemon juice can taste metallic and odd – will balance and focus on all the right things.
- Fresh herbs: When cooking with fresh herbs, I always leave a little bit alone (whichever tastes freshest) and sprinkle it on to finish what I am cooking. Like the olive oil finish, this allows any of the brighter flavors that may have been cooked to bubble up, providing contrast and a bit of color.
Highly flavored ingredients like vinegar, Parmesan cheese, and freshly ground peppers can be used as finishing touches, but keep in mind that they can overwhelm rather than slightly improve your food. The above, however, will improve quality without distracting attention and make sure your food shines the way it was intended.