Shave

Culinary definition of shave: to peel or cut a thin shaving from a whole item, as in shaved cheese or shaved truffles.

C@H FOOD FOR THOUGHT
The most popular shaved food at the moment has to be truffles (the fungus, not the chocolate), and truffle shavers (right) are among the most popular gift items among food lovers.  Try shaved white truffles on fluffy scrambled eggs, or shaved black truffles and pecorino on fresh made pasta dressed only in gorgeous fruity olive oil. Our favourite is Domenica Fiore Olio Reserva, made from Leccino, Moraiolo and Frantoio olives grown high above the Orvieto Valley near Umbria.

Shaving pedigree cheeses like parmesan and peccorino, over chilis and soups is a great way to dress up everyday meals and add layers of flavour (right).  A simple, Y-shaped vegetable peeler is all you need. Soft cheeses like mild cheddars, don't lend themselves to shaving, though drier cheeses and aged cheddars generally shave well.  

You can dress up salads and soups with thin shavings of carrot, English cucumber (not field cucumber) peel, jicama, zucchini and beets.

✭ ✭ ✭ Cucumber Bowl:   Try this quick and easy chef trick for plating stunning starter salads.  Start with a clean, dry English cucumber.  Choose one as straight and as uniform in width as possible, but not wider than the cutting blade of a Y-shaped vegetable peeler.   Shave the bottom of the cucumber only enough so that it rests flat and without wobble on the cutting board.  Start shaving long strips along the full length of the top, until you have 4-6 sturdy strips of cucumber (an amount equal to the number of lunch or dinner guests you are serving).

Lay the strips out flat, side by side on the board, running north and south (you are south).  At the top end of each strip, cut almost (but not all) the way across the slice, from left to right about 1/2 inch down from the top edge, ending 1/4 inch from the right edge.  Do the same at the bottom of each strip, but be sure to cut from right to left this time.  Turn each strip on its edge and slide the top and bottom (now left and right) slits overtop of one another to form a ring, making individual cucumber containers in which to decoratively place salad greens.  Strips of 11 or 12 inches (28-31 cm) in length are plenty long enough. Strips that are too long will flop over.

Drizzle assembled salad with reduced cider, balsamic or other vinegar, or gastrique - allowing drizzle to spill over onto the plate -  and sprinkle with finely chopped chives.  You have a gorgeous, restaurant-worthy salad course.  

Cucumber strips can be prepared ahead and stored in the refrigerator.  They may weep slightly, so it is a good idea to wrap them in parchment and then paper towel that has been wet and then squeezed very dry.

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