I was watching a UK cookery competition programme called Masterchef last night, and I noticed that the judges put a bit of everything - eg meat, potato, veg - on their forks when tasting the dish. It got me thinking (as you do): is it better to taste each part individually, or all in one go?
In a restaurant, the chef creates his dish so that everything is complimentary (presumably), so does he mean that the tastes should blend in to each other? Or should each item be savoured individually and it only residually blends together?
I never thought about this, and would like an answer too.
Because I’ve ALWAYS eaten things methodically- I finish one side before going to the next, before the next, before the meat dish which I usually eat last. I rarely combine all the food in one bite or compliment anything (except for thanksgiving dinner). Have I been missing out all this time!?
I’d say the former– separate courses should be savored individually, with all their elements included. Of course, to each her own. My palate has definitely evolved over the years, something I’ve noticed in others as well as they’ve aged. I used to eat each type of food on its own and rarely even liked it when they touched. I was almost disgusted when I saw my parents pick up (for example) a bit of yam, some turkey and cranberry sauce all in one bite. Now I live for flavor combinations like that all at once.
Often on Iron Chef America the chefs encourage to take some of the [A] with their bite of **.
For me it would depend on the degree of preparation of each element and how the dishes were presented. Is the sauce drizzled on the plate inviting me to take some along with each bite? On Top chef they seem to make vertical piles of food so that the protein is sitting on top of a slaw or salad. In that case I’d try and get each element in each bite probably.
I think that that currently fashionable vertical stacking thing is more down to (supposedly) visual appeal rather than taste. But I’d agree that it does invite taste blending. Any there any chefs out there that can confirm or deny that?
Depends on personal taste, I think. Probably the specifics of the meal, too. Some things that are served together really complement each other well, but don’t necessarily taste all that great in the same mouthful.
I like to try each thing separately, then combine them as I think they’ll work together. That way if there’s one thing I hate and two or three things I love, none of my good stuff gets contaminated.
I believe it is also dependant on the type of food. For example a grain starch (bread) or vegetable starch (Potatoes) in most culinary traditions are the glue or edible instrument for proteins. I think it practically necessary, that to truly savor a protein, it must be consumed with a starch to highlight each their own complexities.
I think starches are also necessary to a true tasting of a sauce as well.
Were the ingredients all part of the same dish, or were they from different dishes on the same plate? I wouldn’t expect a judge in a cooking contest to mix the ingredients of different dishes together, but if the meat and vegetables were all part of, say, a stew, I would expect a judge to eat them together.
I once attended a pot luck where I witnessed someone put a little bit from each dish into a bowl and stir it all together before eating. I was appalled, both at his lack of taste and his lack of respect for the work people did in preparing food for the party.
Interesting point, this. It’s the function of rice and pasta, too - and to bulk out the meal. But do you know why the starch brings out the complexities? And why starches are necessary for sauces?
Ok, here’s the difference between my Australian husband and myself (although I know lots of folks from the UK here and have eaten with them, it doesn’t differ much)
I cut my meat with my knife, place my knife on the side of the plate, trasfer my fork from my left hand to my right, and eat.
He cuts his meat, never lets go of the knife, sticks the meat to the back of the fork with potato or something, and eats.
Also, I eat tines up. He eats tines down. I scoop things, he sticks things to forks with other things.
This (in my experience) is the same as my UK friends, although some of them seem to hold the knife at the end, whereas he holds his in the middle.
Also, I don’t hold my knife the whole time I’m eating, he does.
He often uses his knife and fork together to push food onto the back of the fork. I’d never do that.
So it seems to me that mixing food would be easier and more common if you use part of the food as stickiness to keep other bits of food on your fork.
Gleena - now you mention it, I have seen that. You’re absolutely right about UK eating habits. But that’s where we’re one up on you. You have one extra motion before the food gets into your mouth (the knife one). We can shovel more in in less time our way.
Eating holding your fork AND your knife is not limited to the UK - it’s the common way to eat in Germany, Belgium, Netherlands and France as well. And I’m sure in other European countries as well…
To be honest most Europeans think eating with only your fork is a bit ‘not done’
True, true, my dearest love can down half the food in the house the by the time I’ve started dinner.
But to your OP, I wonder if UK chefs and therefore UK tasters don’t take into account the fact that food is generally meant to be eaten that way? That is, food is mixed together because of the way it’s eaten, so shouldn’t it be tasted that way?
That’s a bit of a chicken or egg question. (And should they be eaten together or separately?)
You realise what I’ve done to myself by starting this thread? I can’t sit down to a meal now and just eat the damn stuff. I’ve got to have the full half hour debate: one pea on its own? Or should I add that piece of meat or…
I do both. I usually taste separately the “components” (and if possible with and without sauce) out of curiosity. After that I alternate, or I eat “all in one go”.
Of course, it depends on the dish, but I very rarely eat, say, all the meat first, then all the vegetables. They’re served together for a reason.
It doesn’t seem as much “not done” as “childish”, like a kid who isn’t yet able to handle properly the cutlery.
As long as you don’t commit the “faux pas” of putting your spare hand on your lap (what exactly are you doing under the table with this hand???) all should be well.
I couldn’t give you the exact chemical reasons or scientific mechanisms of why starches, proteins, and sauces are complimentary, no. But intuitively, I would have to say it has to do with the sugars and gelatinization of the starch- the sweetness and mouthfeel that the starches foil against proteins and sauces and complete.
Also, in some cases a starch can complement and complete otherwise “incomplete” proteins from a nutritional perspective- like in the case of rice and beans, or cheese and bread.
I’m an American, and I eat with my knife in my hand, too (it just seems like the logical way to go about things), but it’s interesting that you consider this a “faux pas”. That’s what I would expect someone to do with his hand if he weren’t using it. Where else would he put it?
Valete,
Vox Imperatoris
ETA: I also eat components of a course individually, and I almost never stack things on my fork, except for small vegetables of the same type.
