Some like it sweet: Deliciously blurring the lines between savory and sweet
Shannah Primiano has a unique way of looking at things, a habit that often results in tasty desserts for the guests of Bonhomme Hospitality restaurants where she is executive pastry chef. “I’ve always been a ‘follow your gut’ thinker and a patient creator. Often, I’ll have an idea for a dessert, and I won’t start it yet until I’ve really sat on it, analyzed it and imagined it figuratively,” says Shannah.
“When I am in that in-between moments usually, my best inspiration is just from talking about it out loud. To anyone. The more I speak of an idea the more the wheels in my brain start turning and then everything starts to move into place.”
Shannah Primiano has a unique way of looking at things, a habit that often results in tasty desserts for the guests of Bonhomme Hospitality restaurants where she is executive pastry chef. “I’ve always been a ‘follow your gut’ thinker and a patient creator. Often, I’ll have an idea for a dessert, and I won’t start it yet until I’ve really sat on it, analyzed it and imagined it figuratively,” says Shannah. “When I am in that in-between moments usually, my best inspiration is just from talking about it out loud. To anyone. The more I speak of an idea the more the wheels in my brain start turning and then everything starts to move into place.”
Case in point: One day while looking at the leg of jamón Ibérico from premier purveyor Cinco Jotas on the chef’s counter at Porto, Shannah had a vision to use it in an ice cream base. While the flavor was sure exactly how to use it. “It sat in my freezer as a secret gem of sorts until I was 100 percent confident in my plated dessert concept that I created around it.” The Porto Jamón dessert she ended up making with it (jamón ibérico Ice cream, acorn maple cake, fig and blackcurrant jam, acorn meringue, tonka bean, hazelnut and jamón praline) has become one of her favorites — as well as that of many of those who’ve tried it.
For Shannah, part of her love for the dessert is that it incorporates an ingredient that plays an important role at Porto. “Jamón ibérico is used in multiple facets so it only makes sense to turn it in to a dessert on our menu,” she says.
Then there’s the story of the dessert’s creative “circle of life” plating. Acorns are the diet of the prized Spanish pigs from which the jamón is made, which Shannah acknowledges with the dessert’s acorn cake. Candied jamón and hazelnut bits add texture. A fig and black currant jam helps cut through the richness. To eat, Shannah recommends tasting some of the ice cream first, letting it melt on your tongue in the same way you do for jamón that’s carved right off the leg. After that, mix the ice cream with the other components.
“For me, being a pastry chef is so many things,” says Shannah. “It’s my memories being put on a plate to become other people’s memories. It’s pushing the boundaries of what people expect and know from desserts and opening the floor to more savory desserts. It’s finding a balance to reach every person with a menu and a dessert they’d like while also challenging people’s palates with new flavors in a sweet.”
