Tastes Like… Chicken?
Fancy Birds at the State Fair
I really enjoy watching the “Top Chef” series on Bravo, but I haven’t been keeping up with the “Top Chef Masters” until this week. I had the chance to catch the semi-finals of the best four chefs in the competition, and what was most interesting was the Quick Fire Challenge. These four celebrity chefs were blindfolded and needed to name 20 different ingredients based on the feel, texture and taste.
The most fascinating thing about this Quick Fire Challenge was the fact that the best guess out of 20 was 7 correct responses. These chefs, who have made their reputation based on their amazing flavor combinations, couldn’t name even half of the ingredients without the use of their eyes. Michael Chiarello, well known for his Italian cuisine, confused mascarpone cheese with sour cream. I’m sure he has used mascarpone hundreds of times in his career, but if he can’t taste the difference, than why not use the less expensive sour cream in his recipes?
I suppose the lesson to be learned here is that cooking isn’t just about the flavor, but also the way the food looks. And even more important, our minds play the biggest role in our enjoyment of eating. After all, doesn’t a Mascarpone Cheesecake sound more exotic and flavorful than your standard Sour Cream variety?
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I like the concept of mock food where you make the food look like another food. For example making a meat loaf look like chocolate cake.
I love that too, especially on April Fool’s Day.
This must be the new thing for food shows. The Chef vs. the City show on Food Network had the Chefs blindfolded and having to determine what was in the sandwiches they were eating (all 3 of them) before they could move on. The Chefs lost because they couldn’t recognize the meat. Now that’s sad, if Chef’s can’t recognize types of meat. This is their specialty and they can’t recognize tastes – I would think this is a pre-req for being a chef!
It’s kind of scary when you think about it. How easily can we be fooled by what we’ve been served because we really can’t tell the difference just with our tastebuds.