Anatomy 101

Open-faced cuisine comes in many forms. On this blog you will see us discuss nachos and garbage plates and sandwiches too. We're equal opportunity, to a point. There are some requirements.

Open-faced cuisine needs a platform. It needs a platform of starch. Bread, potatoes, chips and macaroni salad all serve as the starch platform for classic open-faced dishes. Atkins never ate open-faced. It just doesn't work like that.

Open-faces need protein. Vegetarians can eat open-faced, but few vegans can. Not that vegans don't have protein components of their diet - they just aren't that creative. Animal protein generally reigns over plant protein in terms of open-faced needs. When was the last time a tofu melt got your Pavlov going?

An open-faced dish must have a mess factor. Sauce, cheese (which, yes vegetarians, can serve a dual purpose as animal protein in some cases), relish, gravy, you name it; if it's on there in enough quantity to slip out of a standard sandwich, it's mess factor. Quantity is key. Open-faced cuisine is not light on the mess factor. Unless you're Norwegian. In some cases, such as Welsh rarebit, mess factor and protein are combined into one glorious component.

Another hallmark of open-faced cuisine is that it is built on the plate upon which it is served. Open-faced food is not made in one vessel and then transferred gingerly to another. There are no points for plating. Of course components can be made in different pots, pans, bowls etcetera, but one does not assemble open-faced cuisine anywhere but on the plate upon which it is delivered. It is this plate where open-faced becomes open-faced. Melts are a possible exception, though they are always better when some of the mess factor is burned onto the plate it is served on.