"Unfortunately, taste cannot be taught. That's a category that is entirely subjective, Lake said."
 

So says the following article on barbecued meats, but is that true?:

http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=558063

"Unfortunately,taste cannot be taught. That's a category that is entirelysubjective, Lake said."
 

wrote:
> So says the following article on barbecued meats, but is that true?:
>
> http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=558063
>
There are several considerations here. If the goal is to rate taste on
the basis of "I like it!" and "I don't like it!" then it's pretty hard
to teach taste. Usually that's done by parents and peers long before
the person thinks about becoming a barbecue judge.

However, there is a model for judging that does teach taste, and that's
the beer judging classes. The goal of the classes is to teach a judge
to learn to tell how well the beer they are judging meets the criteria
for that style of beer. So, you can judge a porter even if you don't
like porters. "As porters go, this one is excellent. May I have some
water please?"

I haven't been to any barbecue competitions, and I haven't read the
standards that apply. And I don't know if it would be a good or bad
thing to codify the desired tastes of barbecue to the extent that beer
has been.

On the other hand, the rules for beer judging are based on style.
Pilsners are judged differently from IPA's which are judged differently
from brown ales, which are judged differently from American brown ales
and so on, and there is sufficient room for the brewer's creativity
inside the classes.

So, to some extent taste can be taught.

Mike


--
Mike Avery mavery at mail dot otherwhen dot com
part time baker ICQ 16241692
networking guru AIM, yahoo and skype mavery81230
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