Artful towers of vegetables, like these Beet and Sweet Potato Stacks, certainly make for a stellar presentation at the dinner table. But they do present one rather large conundrum: how do you go about eating the things?
My approach is to use a knife and fork. If the stack is sturdy enough, I can slice out a wedge while leaving the rest of the dish intact. If it's not so sturdy, then I slide the layers into more of a jumbled pile before diving in.
There is definitely an inherent mess factor with this particular presentation. But I'm a big proponent of the idea that you eat with your eyes first, and I appreciate a pretty dish even if eating it can get a bit tricky. That, and the two-year-old in me really enjoys toppling a good tower.
What's your strategy when faced with this dish?
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I hate being faced with fussy presentation and making a mess to eat it. Really hate that. I want the person plating the food to consider the guest eating the food: if it can't be done gracefully then don't present that way. I really don't enjoy "toppling the tower" if it's a business dinner or I'm with my in-laws.
Knife and fork until it falls apart and then oh well, just continue to eat with a knife and fork.
I've noticed male chefs are particularly fond of these sorts of towers. Funny phenomenon, that...
Sounds ridiculous, but I could halve the beet and sweet potato stacks to make them more cut-able. I would still feel somewhat bashful about doing it in a business or formal setting, but it would be better than doing a Jenga.
@Michelle, that's what I would do: slide the knife in like a spatula and make it into two mini-towers. And pray the whole thing doesn't skidder all over the place or flip into my lap for a wonderful beet stain on my crotch. And YES, mschatelaine, I have noticed that too!
p.s. with this particular tower, I would slide the top beet/sweet potato "sandwich" off with the blade of my salad knife, spread the topping between my now 2 "sandwiches", and cut from there.
oops -- cmcinny! Didn't see your response -- we have the identical approach!
Yes, "tall food" is a male thing ;-D
Ugh. I hate "tall food" in general - but I typically deconstruct stuff like this (and proceed to group like-with-like items... but that's my ocd coming through.) Then, it's pretty easy for me to grab a bit of this - a bit of that, etc.
I too hate clumsy towers of food. I would prefer thinner slices stacked (more elegant too), and slabs presented not as high. Maybe fanned out on the plate or something.