The aroma of food can be responsible for as much as 90 percent of its flavor. Scientists now believe that human beings acquired the sense of taste as a way to avoid being poisoned.–Eric Schlosser, Fast Food Nation
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Simon Says: January 30, 2011. Eating is a Multi-sensory Experience
by Jonell Galloway
Eating is a Multi-sensory Experience
from “Word of Mouth Blog,” The Guardian
We eat with all our senses and we are shorting ourselves if we’re not aware of the multi-sensory aspect of the eating experience. If something “looks” good, we have a tendency to think it “is” good. Of course we all know that can be true, or it can lead to disappointment if quality ingredients and craftsmanship have not gone into the final product. Just like with people, looks are not all that counts. What’s inside really does count.
This article from The Guardian of London explores this.
“We know that our enjoyment of food is about more than how it tastes…On the contrary, much research suggests that it is in fact our eyes leading the way, our tongues merely follow. ‘People’s perception is typically dominated by what their eyes see,’ writes Charles Spence, Oxford professor of experimental psychology.”
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Simon Says: Daily Food Quote, January 29, 2011
by Simon de Swaan
The mountain sheep are sweeter
But the valley sheep are fatter.
We therefore deemed it meeter
To carry off the latter.
Thomas Love Peacock (1786-1866), excerpt from The War Song of Dinas Vawr (1823)
Thomas Love Peacock was born in Dorset, England in 1785 or 1786, depending on the source. He was a novelist, poet and playwright and mixed with the Romantic poets, although most of his work was satirical. He also worked for the British East India Company. He was also influenced by Percy Bisshye Shelley, who he met early in life. Peacock died in his library at Halliford-on-Thames in 1866, after refusing to leave his precious books to burn.
Photo inspired by Thomas Love Peacock’s poem “Ocean Gateway,” taken by the Wandering Angel.
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The Swiss have a Food Pyramid too!
by Jonell Galloway
The Americans aren’t the only ones who have a Food Pyramid!
In our 9 May 2009 post A fun, interactive guide for teaching your children good eating habits, we referred only to the American food pyramid, because the US has a pyramid specifically aimed at children. But the Swiss have a food pyramid too!
Swiss food pyramid.
The Swiss food pyramid, published on 30 July 2007, is for the general population, and has quite a different slant from the new American pyramid that came out earlier this year (literally, because the new American one is vertical, while the Swiss one is horizontal, but the content also differs).
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Culinary Chemist: Why I Switched to Measuring by Weight
An Ode to the Kitchen Scale
As a gluten-free home cook/baker, I make substitutions all the time. Sometimes I convert a recipe from “glutenicious” (this is a word I’ve coined to express “containing gluten”) to gluten-free, and sometimes I’m just trying to find another GF flour because of the gazillion different GF ingredients available, and the one called for in the recipe doesn’t happen to be one of the myriad I keep on hand in my pantry. Everyone who cooks gluten-free is bound to be confronted with this situation, and it is natural to want to (or need to) alter recipes no matter what your specific dietary restrictions may be. In that sense, I am a recipe developer. We all are.
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Culinary Chemistry: On the Technique of Brining
Culinary Chemistry: On the Technique of Brining
by Jenn Oliver
Hello and welcome to the first post of Culinary Chemistry with Jenn! I am Jenn, your resident scientist with a gluten-free husband who is curious about all things related to the how and why of cooking. Today, we’re going to talk about brining, but each post will explore a different technique or phenomenon related to cooking/baking in the kitchen. Do you have questions or are curious about a particular aspect in the kitchen? Feel free to send me an email at jennoliver@theramblingepicure.com or on our online chat to the right of the screen, or join our Community and follow the Culinary Chemistry group and forum.
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Food Art: Delicious Meandering, Photographs by Alison Harris
Alison Harris lives in Paris and travels extensively taking photos for travel books, cookbooks, advertising campaigns, newspapers and magazines. Alison did the photography for Sophia Loren’s Recipes and Memories, as well as for for Food Wine Burgundy and Food Wine Rome. She will be contributing photos from her many food journeys and experiences. The beautiful photos in the slider at the top of the home page are Alison’s (well, I haven’t managed to get them there yet, but they will be!). She is cultured and educated and a truly gentle spirit and exhibits her art in galleries around the world. You can visit Alison’s website to see the full range of her work.
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American Bomb, Focaccia al Formaggio and Fascists
by David Downie, just back from the Italian Riviera, an opinion piece
There’s a reason “Wreck-Oh!” is the irreverent nickname for Recco, the Italian Riviera’s self-styled “culinary capital” and probable birthplace of the cheese-filled delicacy focaccia con formaggio.
This once-charming seaside village was flattened by RAF and USAF bombers in an 8-month period from summer 1943 to spring 1944. The goal: blow up the railroad viaduct spanning the Recco River. The Allies ran 20 bombing raids on Recco, a small place, smaller than an American shopping mall. The effects were devastating. Only a few buildings — and the railway viaduct — were left standing. Hundreds of people died.
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Simon Says: Daily Food Quote, January 27, 2011
by Simon de Swaan
Age is something that doesn’t matter, unless you are a cheese.–Luis Buñuel (1900-1983)
Luis Buñel was born in 1900 in Spain. While studying at the University of Madrid, he met Salvador Dali and Federico Garcia Lorca. He later went to Paris and served as an assistant to experimental filmmaker Jean Epstein, then went on to become a major Surrealist filmmaker in his own right, first in Hollywood, and later in Mexico. He was known for having good food and drink on his sets.
Photo courtesy of El Mundo de Laura.
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Mediterranean Food Connection: Bagels, Smoked Salmon, Goat Cheese and Leek Shoots
by bagel
Click here for French version.
Ingredients
Click for metric-Imperial recipe converter.
4 bagels (click here for Christophe’s bagel recipe)
4 slices smoked salmon
200 g / 7 oz. creamy fresh (not fermented) goat cheese
50 g / 2 large tablespoons leek shoots, or failing this, scallions, chives or chopped shallots
Freshly ground white pepper
Instructions
- Cut bagels in half crosswise. Toast.
- Mix goat cheese and white pepper to taste.
- Spread inside bottom surface of bagels with goat cheese.
- Put one slice of salmon on each bagel.
- Evenly distribute leek shoots on bottom half of bagels.
- Put top half of bagels back in place.
- Serve immediately.
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