It has long been known: serving a dish is half of its success, at least. Food appetizingly laid out on a plate stimulates appetite in no way worse than an appetizing smell. Therefore, chefs, especially in cafes and restaurants, usually pay a lot of attention to serving. Creativity is sometimes so rushing and rushing.
And this is the case when creativity could be less.
Meet borscht. Just borscht. In a loaf of black bread.
It would seem - what is it? Serving in bread is a classic option, one might say. A lot of soups are served in loaves. But damn it, this is the first time in my life that serving has caused me such a rejection.
First, it is not appetizing. Honestly, I got the impression that someone had already eaten this soup before me, but it... hmm... did not take root.
Secondly, it is not appropriate: even if I try very hard, I just cannot attract borscht, a banal borscht, to serving in this way. There are dishes that will look appropriate in bread. When in the Czech Republic goulash is served in this way, I have no objection.
But borscht... You can call me inert, but I consider such a perversion over borscht an insult to food. And borscht and bread.
Here are some other thoughts intrusively creeping into my head: it is worth understanding that a visitor will not eat a plate of a loaf. And spoiling a loaf of bread for the sake of a ladle of soup is stupid and disgusting, yes. Because throwing away food is not a good tendency.
We are all not so rich in order to waste food resources so mediocrely (they, you know, are not taken out of thin air by magic).
In the modern world, there is a trend towards conscious consumption, and it should not be considered just "fashionable". Conscious consumption is something that can help our society become a little more civilized. Conscious eating is an important part of this journey.
I teach children to put on their plate at home and order in a restaurant (cafe) only what they can eat and only in those quantities that they can handle. The youngest daughter is two years old, but even now she can determine whether she wants to eat a large portion or "dtsut-dtsut".
If it's okay for someone to spend money on something that they won't even try to use, then don't you think it's better, in that case, to pay for lunch to the poor? You will not eat it either, but there will be more sense.
I think that chefs should also think about such nuances, and not be creative so... hackneyed and disgusting. And the owners of such establishments - too. Yes, serving soup in bread will increase the selling price of the dish (and not only by the price of this loaf). However, it will also scare away visitors (not all, but some - for sure).
By the way, the last nail, in the lid, so to speak: borscht is served so "original"... in a Georgian restaurant. Yes, yes, borscht. In a Georgian restaurant.
How do you like that? Like?