Recently my algorithm has been inundated with Master Chef and Hells Kitchen clips. Gordon Ramsey likes to show off his keen palate and ability to recognize the most subtle ingredients.
I don’t have a sensitive palate. Covid knocked out my sense of smell and taste. Although much of it came back I know it’s not the same. It was a pretty common side effect. No doubt it affected plenty in the food industry. Have any prominent or “celebrity” chefs admitted they can’t taste their food like they used to?
According to the New York Times, Tejal Rao, a restaurant critic for the paper, lost her sense of smell in 2021. The same thing happened to Michele Crippa, a “super taster” in Italy. I think there are other examples.
There was an article in the New Yorker several years ago about Grant Achatz(sp?) who had some form of oral cancer and had to have part of his tongue removed.
I had not heard of him at the time but have seen him since— a very “avant garde” chef.
Celebrity chef and TV competitor Shirley Chung went through something similar.
She recently competed again on Tournament of Champions but lost in part because she struggled to get the spices correct in her dish, due to not being able to properly taste it. And she admitted to that on TV.
While her tongue wasn’t removed, her taste buds can’t register everything they used to after the cancer treatments. She still did a decent job even though she lost.
Rather off topic but a bit parallel: apparently George Martin started to lose some of his hearing around the late 70s. That must have been devastating for a producer of his calibre…
One famous chef used to be (still is?) a heavy smoker and complained bitterly about “not being able to smoke in my own kitchen”. And heavy smokers have lost most of the sense of smell, which is crucial to taste. Not to mention, I really dont want my food contaminated.
That’s why recipes are published. It doesn’t require a refined palette to cook acceptable tasting food. I’m thankful because that’s the only way that I can get decent results.
Back on topic…
What effects do aging have on a chef’s palate?
Would a 70 year old chef distinguish the finer balance of flavors compared to when they were 30?
I know sensitivity to seasoning changes over time. Salt is an example. A cook that uses it regularly will gradually use more over time. They’re less sensitive to the taste. A customer that uses very little in their diet will complain the restaurant’s food is too salty.
I heard a radio interview with (? I’m sorry, I wish I could remember, she’s a cookbook author and food personality), who, despite her cheffy career and immersion in the biz, described her shrinking appetite for eating.
The interview was a few weeks ago but timely as I’ve observed the same during the past six months or so. My portions are smaller, skipping meals is easier, snacking steeply reduced. I still want to cook, peel charred skins, chop onions, toast cumin, tend charcoal, etc but eating it just isn’t as appealing as it once was.
It varies a lot. My sense of taste and smell has always been keener than my husband’s, but he’s lost most of it with age. I totally lost my sense of smell with covid, and the ability to taste “bitter” in a couple of things (bitter is a very complex sense), but i have regained most of it. I don’t trust my nose as much as i used to, but objectively, i no longer can point to anything i can’t do any more. I complain about it a lot more than my husband, but I’ve lost a lot less in that department than he has.
Chefs always emphasize the importance of tasting the food. Not as important for a line cook producing 100 of the same thing every night but it’s important for high end chefs. I’m sure it’s possible to fake it using years of experience as your guide but it’s not the same.
