Some restaurants (and diners) in the US think that the more you pile up on a plate, ingredient and portion wise, the better it is.
The end result is more often that nothing stands out, the distinctive flavors fight with each other or one of them buries the rest.
In my restaurant days, if someone looked for a wine recommendation (by the glass), I would often ask would you rather have one good glass or two bad ones.
So I have to agree 100% with Jason Atherton’s gospel of cooking that Size isn’t everything as he puts it in The Guardian.
Jason is the executive chef at Maze in London (one of the ventures by Gordon Ramsay).
He graduated from many kitchens including El Bulli which he quotes as a big influence.
Having spent time in Spain, he recognizes that "good tapas have nothing to do with fancy cooking techniques. It’s all about top-notch ingredients and doing simple things well".
In his column he shares a few recipes including Large Prawns ‘Al Plancha’ with Aioli and Hake Bilbaina.
I might give a try to this recipe for Sunday dinner actually.
Jason Atherton is the author of Maze: The Cookbook published by Quadrille on March 7, 2008 (my illustration).
According to the Zagat Buzz (London Edition) ‘Jason Atherton will open a casual offshoot, maze Grill, just "across the hall" so to speak, in Mayfair’s Grosvenor Square in April’
On Iberian Food: ‘1080 Recipes’ The Spanish Home Cooking Bible according to Jose Manuel Pizarro