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BEAUTY IS IN THE TASTE BUDS OF THE BEHOLDER
We have all been told that it is inner beauty,
not outer beauty that counts. “Do not judge a book by its cover” asserts the
trite and time honored expression. Yet women expend considerable time and
money on their clothes, hair, and makeup, not to mention the gym. Why?
Because whether it is fair or not, they know that men, and sometimes even
other women, will initially judge them by their looks. When men place
excessive emphasis on a woman’s appearance they are accused of being
superficial. When a chef does it with his food however, he is considered
creative and prudent.
Humans are significantly visually oriented.
Right or wrong, our psyches do make judgments about things based on their
most salient features, i.e., visual attributes. Moreover, initial
impressions can influence our perception of the forthcoming non-visible
aspects, if we allow ourselves to get past the looks. This happens with
everything from the people we meet, to the places we go, to the food we put
in our mouths. Studies have shown that people eat more when the food is
visually pleasing. This is not to say that if you were served designer dog
biscuits on a pretty plate that you would devour them with glee. But your
discernment of a dish’s flavor, which is partially psychologically based,
can be enhanced if presented with artistic flair.
However, it is not only your perception of
taste that the chef wishes to manipulate with his plating artistry. You are
likely to come to very different conclusions about a restaurant and its
staff if the food is displayed with attention to detail, as opposed to just
being slopped on a plate. The former conveys respect for the food and a chef
who is diligent about his craft. Well presented food indeed adds to the
overall dining experience.
But just as a man preoccupied with physical
beauty will miss the essence of a woman, culinary aesthetics can clash with
practical concerns. There are many examples. How many times have your shrimp
been served with their tails and that last segment of shell attached? The
tails are left on for appearance purposes and the final shell segment
secures them during cooking. Looks pretty right? But now you have to peel
that piece of shell off every one of your shrimp, instead of just digging in
with unencumbered joy. And depending on the hoity-toityness of the
establishment, you may have to forgo using your fingers and wrestle that
tenacious piece of shell off with your knife and fork. OK, there are worse
things in life. But it’s still one more barrier between you and the food for
the sake of looks.
Similarly, how about rack of lamb served “Frenched”,
i.e., stripped of the delectable meat between the bones to create that
sophisticated bare bones look. It should be a crime. Naked bones will not
fill your stomach or gratify your palate. Similarly, some chefs remove the
tenderloin from their chicken breasts to create a more neat and uniform
look. The tenderloin is the “filet mignon” of the chicken and thus, one of
the most succulent parts. Or bartenders who don’t shake their martinis for
fear of making them cloudy (from the infused ice crystals and air bubbles
that vigorous shaking imparts). But shaking blends the ingredients more
uniformly and makes the martini colder, which tastes better. Or the
Puritanical “two ounces of sauce per dish” standard that purports that
droplets of sauce appear more refined than a puddle of it. Screw that. Give
me more sauce!
In the same vein is a common trend of
artfully arranging a dish’s ingredients on top of each other in the center
of the plate. I’ve always thought of this approach as a decorative way to
throw all the food together in a heap. Such as when your meat, fowl or fish
is placed on a bed of risotto with a small bundle of dressed greens on top
of it. Sure, it’s aesthetically pleasing but I don’t want my meat’s juices
leaking into my risotto. I want them on the plate where I can dip each slice
in them. And I don’t want whatever dressing is on that bundle of greens
dripping onto my meat. I want each preparation to maintain it’s own taste
integrity as opposed to a convoluted meat-rice-salad hodgepodge. But I’m
afraid fried foods will be back in fashion before main stream cuisine
features good ole American diner plating, where each item rests on it’s own
real estate on the plate.
I am by no means suggesting we abandon
culinary aestheticism. It is a vital component of food preparation and
presentation. But when it starts to infringe on substance, then we are truly
losing our sense of “taste.”
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