This week’s lecturer is Gary Menes. He is the chef at Le Comptoir, a pop-up restaurant at Tiara Café in LA. 

Gary Menes and sous-chef Wesley Avila weighed in on our topic of the week, “Pressure,” with their version of the veggie platter.  There were 20-odd vegetables and fruits present, including pickled onions, the season’s first cherries, pickled orange segments, Okinawan sweet potato, and quickly sautéed fava beans.

Gary packed cherries in a bag and used a cryovac machine to suck out all the air in the bag. The resultant vacuum compresses and bruises the cherries, changing their texture and flavor in the process.

Want to make quick-pickled onion petals? Slice the onion in quarters or halves and peel apart the layers to get petals. Heat up a quick-pickling solution of 3 parts water : 2 parts red wine vinegar : 1 part sugar. Once hot, submerge the petals and let rest for 30 minutes.