Chef Nate Whiting of 492 in Charleston, South Carolina is part chef and part Willy Wonka. He takes the pre-conceived notions we have about food and turns them upside down. For instance, his spring marinara wasn’t made with tomatoes but with strawberries. The flavor profiles of tomatoes and strawberries are so close that he can manipulate the strawberry so that it mimics the flavor of a tomato.
Chef Whiting’s ingenuity is evident in his Tomato-Cherry Gazpacho. Made with tomatoes, raspberries and strawberries, pureed and strained to a silky smooth texture, the gazpacho gives familiar flavors new layers of flavor. It’s garnished with strawberries, chervil, raspberries, peeled cherry tomatoes, sorrel and marigold petals, so that each bite is transformed depending upon the fruit or leaf from the garnish that is on the spoon.
Tomato-Berry Gazpacho
from Chef Nate Whiting of Four Ninety-Two in Charleston, South Carolina
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