Flavor Trends, Strategies and Solutions for Menu Development

New England Cod from Canoe From Seafood & The Menu’s collection of best-selling seafood menu items of 2018

At Canoe in Atlanta, Executive Chef Matthew Basford develops each seafood dish around the flavor of the fish, focusing on complementary and contrasting flavors.

Matthew Basford, Executive Chef | Canoe, Atlanta

At farm-to-table Canoe in Atlanta, Matthew Basford’s top seller is New England cod, followed closely by farmed Atlantic salmon and Rhode Island swordfish. When Basford plans a seafood dish, he homes in on how strong the flavor of the fish is. He has served the stronger tasting swordfish with sweet corn and spicy Parmesan dashi.

“With cod being a fish with mellow flavor, I keep the flavors complementary,” he says. Most recently, he’s coated the cod in a brioche crust and served it with brown butter and crawfish tortellini, but past combinations include a panko crust; mashed potatoes and spinach and a basil crust; and ravioli with a pea purée.

Basford says it’s gotten easier to source and serve seafood. “The buying process has become far simpler, and the quality of seafood has risen with customer expectations for the freshest, highest quality seafood,” he says.

From the special Sept/Oct 2018 Seafood issue of Flavor & the Menu magazine. Read this issue online or check if you qualify for a free print subscription.

 

About The Author

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Christine Burns Rudalevige is a seasoned food writer and classically trained cook living in Brunswick, Maine. She has worked as a chef, a farmers’ market manager, and a boutique caterer. Christine founded the Family Fish Project (a website dedicated to eating seafood at home) and later worked as a lead culinary instructor at Stonewall Kitchen. The dedicated home cook and food writer has lent her voice to regional and national media outlets, from NPR to Cooking Light.