Bloom Foods

Menu test #6:
Jollof grits, blue masa tempura oyster mushroom, nixtamalized sweet potato, pickled onion, mild cilantro chutney

Chef's notes:
• These grits...........scotch bonnet flavor that's not too hot.....tomato, bell pepper, ginger, garlic, herbs......so good!!!! Like a 9.1/10. I have a few small tweaks to make, but they're so good y'all 😭
• Finally found a gluten free batter and I actually like it better than our spelt batter. It's so crispy and it holds it's crunch for quite a while. And the subtle corn flavor is so good. Tried the blue masa harina for color, but it was probably unnecessary. Didn't come out as blue as I would have liked.
• Soaked this diced sweet potato in cal water for 75 minutes. Gets nice and soft inside with a caramelized skin. Pretty good, just overcooked it a bit in the commercial oven.
• Pickled onions & cilantro chutney gave nice acid and herbal notes.

Rating:
• 9.0 / 10
• So good. All 5 flavors balanced so well. Cannot wait to serve this one.
• Very happy we have a clean gluten free version of the fried oyster mushroom to play with!

Menu test #4:
Tlayuda with black eyed peas, cabbage, nixtamalized sweet potato, mustard green peanut sauce, avocado, cheddar

Chef's notes:
• The corn was good, but not great. I should have pressed it a bit thinner, and finished it over an open flame instead of on the comal.
• Flavors were on point! Could have made the black eyed peas a bit spicier.
• The nixtamalized sweet potato was so good, although I followed soaking instructions for 1" cubes and mine were about a half inch. Will soak for 75 minutes instead of 120 at this size.
• Wish I had equipment to make these bigger, but I'm not mad at the ~10" size.
• Mustard green sauce was something new. I like the mellow bitterness cut by the peanut flavor, but I think it would be better if I braised the greens instead of blanching them.

Rating:
• 7.4/10
• It's all about the corn, and this came out a bit too thick and not as crunchy as I remember. Pretty easy fix, though!