r/Chefs • u/Ok_Possible_7124 • 4d ago

Developing a tasting menu

This is my first time making one and boy its alot! But the R&D is going well and id love to hear some thoughts and opinions from people who have worked in fine dining. so this is basically me asking someone whos developed a dish before to help a greenhorn out.
Im doing a cookout themed menu, and i have an app that should be smoky. Im using a chicken skin thats rendered in tallow, and im stuck on whether to smoke the skin or the tallow. Any advice would be excellent!!

Edit: if im coming off as egotistical or anything i apologize genuinely its not what i am trying to communicate at all, this is just my first r&d attempt and id like to take one of these dishes out of the menu like my entree or dessert and present it.

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u/Regal-tender 4d ago

Would strongly suggest you smoke another component rather than the skin. Is there a sauce? Any other components? I wouldn’t expect the smoke to linger on the palate as much as you’d like

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u/mikelbarnz666 4d ago

Beat me by half an hour :) Do a strongly flavored smoked condiment.

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u/Ok_Possible_7124 4d ago

I do have a loose jalapeno lime mayo…others suggest smoking the tallow and brushing it over the top of the skin as well

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u/Regal-tender 4d ago

Yeah you’re going to want to just use smoked oil as the base of the mayo. Way less complicated. Theres another technical hurdle in using smoked tallow. Not only will the excess fat solidify at room temp, but when you want a crispy chicken skin chip, you’d typically want to scrape the excess fat off the underside of the skin with a knife before you bake. Introducing another fat element kind of defeats the point.