There are certain universal snacking truths, and one is that everyone (okay, almost everyone) likes sour cream and onion dip. Mathew Meeker, the executive chef at Fancypants in Nashville, took that idea and ran with it for the caviar dip he serves at the playful restaurant, which describes itself as a “friendly neighborhood Asian Italian fine dining steakhouse.”
Instead of the usual onion soup mix and sour cream, Meeker uses a blend of white pepper and MSG to give the base plenty of umami. “MSG is one of those things you can’t put your finger on, but you’d know you were missing something if it wasn’t there,” he says. Next comes a flurry of finely chopped herbs, including floral lemongrass, dill, scallions, and chives. Finally, he spoons on the caviar.
The restaurant offers the dip with osetra, the distinctive prized sturgeon roe with a briny, nutty taste (Meeker orders his from the California Caviar Company, which was the first in the world to sell sustainably farmed caviar), or with more affordable American paddlefish eggs. For an even more budget-friendly option, “smoked trout roe would be delicious,” he says.
Meeker didn’t grow up eating fancy fish eggs. He was raised by a single mom who worked as a nurse. His culinary education started with his grandmother’s homey Southern cooking and Food Network. “It was always on TV when I was growing up,” he says.
When Meeker was in his early teens, someone gave him A Day at elBulli, a 632-page book about the famed Spanish temple of molecular gastronomy. “I was struck by these wild dishes that looked like science experiments,” he says. “But we lived in a small town, and there were no fancy restaurants or any restaurants doing anything close to that.” Putting his culinary dreams aside, Meeker headed to Nashville for college, thinking he might become a doctor or lawyer. To earn some money, he landed a job as a prep cook at Butcher & Bee, the older sister of Fancypants, and never looked back.
Although since then he has cooked in Michelin-starred restaurants and run the fermentation program for the chef Sean Brock, he still recalls with fondness the packets of onion soup mix his mom used to transform staples like pork chops. And he remains a dedicated fan of Ruffles. To his mind, they are the perfect chip for a high-end dip at a restaurant that serves a $125 tasting menu.
“You expect stuffiness, and we give you Ruffles to eat caviar with your hands,” he says. “It breaks up all the stuffiness in the room.”
Meet the Chef: Mathew Meeker
Hometown: Born in Dallas. Grew up in the rural West Tennessee town of Huntingdon. Moved to Nashville when he was seventeen.
Dirty food secret: “I eat a shocking amount of Twizzlers.”
What he would grab if his kitchen were on fire: The very first chef’s knife he bought: a Tojiro Japanese gyuto knife. “I still use it to this day.”
Advice to aspiring chefs: “Buy all the cookbooks you can and read a lot. Work for chefs who have something you want.”
Advice to home cooks: Read through the recipe and get everything you need measured out before you start cooking. “That way your potatoes aren’t burning in the pan while you figure out the next thing to add.”
