I find soups one of the most challenging dishes to plate beautifully. Often, the best soups rely on unity of ingredients, so it's difficult to put a component on top without affecting the flavors. For this bowl, I opted to finish the presentation with components that were either directly in the soup, or connected to other flavors in it. This resulted in no net loss of flavor, but a major gain in presentation. Yellow squash soup with shrimp is one of my favorites to make. I've done this in a lot of ways, but I always use shrimp shells to fortify my vegetable stock, and I usually thicken it with a toasted nut cream. Fortifying the stock assures a gentle shrimp flavor throughout even if every bite doesn't contain shrimp, and the nut cream lightens the soup and amplifies the roasted summer squash flavor. The pureed soup itself contains the aforementioned shrimpy stock, caramelized onions, lots of roasted squash, thyme, garlic, and toasted cashew cream. By itself, the soup is delicious, but the accoutrements really make it amazing. First, and most obvious, the grilled shrimp add bold flavor and the skewer adds drama. They're seasoned with salt, pepper, and a pinch of fenugreek, which pairs beautifully with the cashew cream and squash. I saved the necks of the squash to make small rounds. They're gently caramelized in brown butter, and their flavor really shows off the depth summer squash can accomplish. Finally, to add some heat, brightness, punchiness, and a note to play off the sweet nuttiness, a walnut-dill gremolata. The finely chopped garnish features walnuts, lemon zest and juice, parsley, dill, olive oil, and Calabrian chilis. Its bold bite is a perfect accoutrement to the savory-sweet soup. Overall, this presentation really lived up to my hopes for the dish. All combined, the soup was interesting, deep, and unique. #soup #shrimp #squash #cashews #homemade #dinner #foodporn #culinaryschool https://www.instagram.com/p/B7MRMzpJQrW/?igshid=1mxdrp7s55m78