I can’t resist a flourish. I’ve never once abided by that “remove one thing before you leave the house” rule — why would I take off something I paid money for and love? This shows up in my cooking as well: Rice always gets a shower of furikake, salads always get croutons, chili always gets a thatched blanket of shredded Cheddar (and scallions and sour cream and fried onions and hot sauce). Some might call it an inability to leave well enough alone. I call it living a little.
Andy Baraghani gets it. Does his tahini apple tart, which is already assertively sesame-y from the halva-like tahini spread under the apples, really need the sesame seeds and sugar sprinkled on the crust? Probably not, but then you wouldn’t get that extra toasted sesame flavor and crunch and sparkle (quite literally). Serve this beautiful tart with vanilla ice cream, whipped cream or crème fraîche, next to a bouquet of gold-yellow lilies to really get the point across.
Subscribe to The Times to read as many articles as you like.99bet