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Burgers, avocados, cucumbers: why chefs can’t stop smashing their food
From peas to parsnips, food just tastes better after a pounding. Top cooks explain the year’s tastiest trend
Harris thinks of “smacked”, which most commonly applies to cucumbers, as “a bit more haphazard – usually bashed with the back of a knife or a rolling pin until they break apart, before marinating them”. Smashing “allows food to absorb marinades and dressings so much better”, says Helen Graham, who spent five years as executive chef at Bubala, a vegetarian Middle Eastern-inspired restaurant in London. AndGraham cites the Lebanese dish musabaha: “ Chickpeas are overcooked and then crushed and tossed with lemon juice, tahini, garlic and cumin.”
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