How to Build a Menu

Designing a first-class meal at home requires two important ingredients: a hefty dash of common sense and a basic understanding of how to handle the ingredients you are working with. Ingredients must be carefully bought, traditionally cooked, and presented in a lively manner that takes the diner on a satisfying adventure. The bottom line is that a well-crafted menu is best when all its courses are consistent in quality, very fresh, and, just very, very good.

Each recipe selected to compose a meal should play its part in making the meal a treat while still being extraordinarily simple to prepare. When planning, seek and pay attention to contrast, which is the most important thing in any composed dish or menu. Contrast should be reflected not only in color and other visual cues but also in texture and in the manner in which the ingredients are cooked. Too much of the same makes for a slog of a journey rather than one paved with exciting twists and turns. This is particularly important to consider when you are working with a short menu, as contrast becomes much more apparent. For menus of six courses or more, you can get away with remixes of certain flavors, textures, and temperatures if you pace them correctly. There should be an engaging blend of textures with varying levels of richness so as to not leave the diner overwhelmed or, even worse, underwhelmed.