Make it Fancy

February 19, 2024
TikTok creator and private chef Skier promises in his ambitious if somewhat fussy debut to walk readers through the process of creating “elevated meals” in the comfort of their homes. The recipes draw inspiration from global cuisines; hiramasa aguachile appears alongside potato gnocchi with chile pomodoro and fried garlic, dukkah-crusted lamb rack with burnt honey gastrique, and yuzu lemonade. Special attention is given to fermenting and dehydrating foods, with classics including preserved lemons and pickled red onions as well as lesser-known fare such as black garlic and puffed beef tendon. Skier provides instructions for an assortment of condiments, dressings, and stocks to be used in other recipes: the burnt onion powder serves as a topping for the Little Gems salad and the mushroom stock is incorporated in the sauce for the tagliatelle and morels. While Skier’s straightforward instructions inspire confidence (“You can quite easily make a fancy-looking gel as impressive... as one you’d see in a fine restaurant,” he writes of the preserved lemon gel), sourcing some ingredients, including fennel pollen for the pork chops with pear mostarda or pistachio oil for the pistachio oil cake, will likely prove a challenge. Many recipes also call for specialized equipment, such as a dehydrator. Still, advanced home cooks looking to dazzle a dinner party will want to check this out.