Learning about Food
 

I am not a cook, and this post is not about cooking, but it is about food and its appreciation.

This may sound a bit daft; but growing up, I didn’t particularly pay much attention to the food I was eating. Nor did anyone in my family; being on the eating-to-live side of the spectrum rather than the living-to-eat. As I have grown up, however, I have begun to enjoy food, eating, and the entire culture surrounding it; but my knowledge is superficial, and I really want to explore and learn more. There is a lot of scope for me to do so - so much is new to me at this stage.

I had these questions:

1. How to identify and appreciate a well cooked dish? To know the various parameters to judge - flavour, texture, etc. To know when they are done correctly/done well. Including the understanding of the subtleties in the dish.

2. In traditional cuisines, to know how a dish “should” taste; what its flavour or texture should be like.

3. To know the things the chef did to make it that way: the ideas behind the dish, perhaps even the relevant technical aspects of cooking behind it.

4. The above three points in particular relation to traditional cuisines; but: In addition to traditional cuisines, appreciating the work of a chef who comes up with new things, pushes the boundaries or breaks the rules.
As aforesaid, I am not a cook, and I am not actually interested in cooking myself; I wanted to ask this question from the point of view of someone who eats (and admires) food.

In a sense, my question is about how to understand and appreciate good art, rather than how to be an artist yourself.

Does this knowledge come only with eating out and trying a lot of things? Or cooking a lot? Are there any books which can help with this? Does reading books on cuisines, and recipe books, help? Any good websites or other resources on the Internet?

Any answers would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!

Learning about Food
 

Harlequin wrote:

>
> I am not a cook, and this post is not about cooking, but it is about
> food and its appreciation.
>
> This may sound a bit daft; but growing up, I didn’t particularly
> pay much attention to the food I was eating. Nor did anyone in my
> family; being on the eating-to-live side of the spectrum rather than
> the living-to-eat. As I have grown up, however, I have begun to enjoy
> food, eating, and the entire culture surrounding it; but my knowledge
> is superficial, and I really want to explore and learn more. There is
> a lot of scope for me to do so - so much is new to me at this stage.
>
> I had these questions:
>
> 1. How to identify and appreciate a well cooked dish? To know the
> various parameters to judge - flavour, texture, etc. To know when they
> are done correctly/done well. Including the understanding of the
> subtleties in the dish.
>
> 2. In traditional cuisines, to know how a dish “should”
> taste; what its flavour or texture should be like.
>
> 3. To know the things the chef did to make it that way: the ideas
> behind the dish, perhaps even the relevant technical aspects of
> cooking behind it.
>
> 4. The above three points in particular relation to traditional
> cuisines; but: In addition to traditional cuisines, appreciating the
> work of a chef who comes up with new things, pushes the boundaries or
> breaks the rules.
> As aforesaid, I am not a cook, and I am not actually interested in
> cooking myself; I wanted to ask this question from the point of view
> of someone who eats (and admires) food.
>
> In a sense, my question is about how to understand and appreciate good
> art, rather than how to be an artist yourself.
>
> Does this knowledge come only with eating out and trying a lot of
> things? Or cooking a lot? Are there any books which can help with
> this? Does reading books on cuisines, and recipe books, help? Any
> good websites or other resources on the Internet?
>
> Any answers would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!

Ask them, theyre here
--
The real Dr. Bruce posts with uni-berlin.de - individual.net

Learning about Food
 

On Tuesday, April 27, 2021 at 6:10:12 PM UTC-4, Harlequin wrote:

> Does this knowledge come only with eating out and trying a lot of
> things? Or cooking a lot? Are there any books which can help with this?
> Does reading books on cuisines, and recipe books, help? Any good
> websites or other resources on the Internet?
>
> Any answers would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!

Do you have any friends with at least some of the knowledge you
seek? This is one place where book learning falls short. Having
someone taste the same dish you're tasting and comment on it
is the easiest/best way.

That said, I recommend "Tender at the Bone", by Ruth Reichl. It
may not teach you to appreciate well prepared food, but it is an
account of how a distinguished food critic learned the same
things you seek to learn.

Cindy Hamilton

Learning about Food
 

Harlequin wrote:
....
> In a sense, my question is about how to understand and appreciate good
> art, rather than how to be an artist yourself.
>
> Does this knowledge come only with eating out and trying a lot of
> things? Or cooking a lot? Are there any books which can help with this?
> Does reading books on cuisines, and recipe books, help? Any good
> websites or other resources on the Internet?
>
> Any answers would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!

tastes and preferences vary so much from person to person
that what i can recommend is to get out and try as many
different things as you can.

cooking skills you can watch the many shows on t.v. which
demonstrate them and talk about food. some cooks are much
better at explaining things than others.

for now you can do things like think about what you have
experienced and what you've enjoyed and the various aspects
of those times.

if needed keep a journal and develop a plan to try new
things that you've not experienced before.

to me, since i've been cooking since i was a fairly young
kid and i've tried to learn how to cook new cuisines as time
has gone on so i'm fairly open to trying new things, but
where i'm at right now is pretty limited for time and money
so i have to experiment once in a while and be happy with
that. the person i live with has a very simple and restricted
palate and special requirements so i go with the flow as much
as i can here and then once in a while make something for
myself that has different spices or ingredients.

i do think that reading cookbooks can help to expose you
to how dishes can look and ideas of how to present things
but i'm not huge on presentation as much as i want the dishes
to taste authentic enough that i would recognise them again
(no matter how they are presented) and understand the basics
of the different ingredients and the history is also too
sometimes pretty interesting.

if you are not already familiar with the basic kinds of
cooking techniques and the terms that is a good place to
start nibbling away at as you have time. reading various
cookbooks will give you that information and exposure to
different methods of getting the same sorts of results.

nothing wrong with taking your time, enjoying the journey
and finding out what you like and what to avoid. :)


songbird

Learning about Food
 

On 4/27/2021 4:39 PM, Harlequin wrote:
> I am not a cook, and this post is not about cooking, but it is about
> food and its appreciation.
>
> This may sound a bit daft; but growing up, I didn’t particularly
> pay much attention to the food I was eating. Nor did anyone in my
> family; being on the eating-to-live side of the spectrum rather than the
> living-to-eat. As I have grown up, however, I have begun to enjoy food,
> eating, and the entire culture surrounding it; but my knowledge is
> superficial, and I really want to explore and learn more. There is a lot
> of scope for me to do so - so much is new to me at this stage.
>
> I had these questions:
>
> 1. How to identify and appreciate a well cooked dish? To know the
> various parameters to judge - flavour, texture, etc. To know when they
> are done correctly/done well. Including the understanding of the
> subtleties in the dish.
>
> 2. In traditional cuisines, to know how a dish “should”
> taste; what its flavour or texture should be like.
>
> 3. To know the things the chef did to make it that way: the ideas behind
> the dish, perhaps even the relevant technical aspects of cooking behind
> it.
>
> 4. The above three points in particular relation to traditional
> cuisines; but: In addition to traditional cuisines, appreciating the
> work of a chef who comes up with new things, pushes the boundaries or
> breaks the rules.
> As aforesaid, I am not a cook, and I am not actually interested in
> cooking myself; I wanted to ask this question from the point of view of
> someone who eats (and admires) food.
>
> In a sense, my question is about how to understand and appreciate good
> art, rather than how to be an artist yourself.
>
> Does this knowledge come only with eating out and trying a lot of
> things? Or cooking a lot? Are there any books which can help with this?
> Does reading books on cuisines, and recipe books, help? Any good
> websites or other resources on the Internet?
>
> Any answers would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!
>
>

The only difference between a good meal and a good time
is where you put the cucumber.

Learning about Food
 

Harlequin wrote:

>
> I am not a cook, and this post is not about cooking, but it is about
> food and its appreciation.

Actually it kinda is as we read down.

>
> This may sound a bit daft; but growing up, I didn’t particularly
> pay much attention to the food I was eating. Nor did anyone in my
> family; being on the eating-to-live side of the spectrum rather than
> the living-to-eat. As I have grown up, however, I have begun to enjoy
> food, eating, and the entire culture surrounding it; but my knowledge
> is superficial, and I really want to explore and learn more. There is
> a lot of scope for me to do so - so much is new to me at this stage.

My Mom wasn't much of a cook so there were a lot of things I'd never
had when I moved out. Within my poor student putting herself through
college budget, I'd make it a point to get 'something I'd never tried'
every grocery trip.

Initially it was all in the vegetable and fruit section. I got a cheap
cookbook at a yardsale and I'd bring it with me to the store. Not
everything was a success but enough was, to keep plugging at it.

>
> I had these questions:
>
> 1. How to identify and appreciate a well cooked dish? To know the
> various parameters to judge - flavour, texture, etc. To know when they
> are done correctly/done well. Including the understanding of the
> subtleties in the dish.

It's more a matter of do YOU like it? If you do, it's good. Most
dishes don't have that much subtelty


> 2. In traditional cuisines, to know how a dish “should”
> taste; what its flavour or texture should be like.

You get a feel for it in time. Eventually you can tell if you will
like a dish just from the recipes used.


> 3. To know the things the chef did to make it that way: the ideas
> behind the dish, perhaps even the relevant technical aspects of
> cooking behind it.

That you will find in many cookbooks. I have a small 3 shelf bookcase
in the kitchen and all 3 are filled with cookbooks. One of them is
'Jeff Smith, the Frugal Gourmet' (He disappears after accusations of
sexual misconduct with minors but the books were fine). He tells a bit
of history and background in them with the dishes.

(snip)

> As aforesaid, I am not a cook, and I am not actually interested in
> cooking myself; I wanted to ask this question from the point of view
> of someone who eats (and admires) food.

For every cook, you need an 'eat' to enjoy the food.

> Does this knowledge come only with eating out and trying a lot of
> things? Or cooking a lot? Are there any books which can help with
> this? Does reading books on cuisines, and recipe books, help? Any
> good websites or other resources on the Internet?

It can come with eating out but you seldom know what exactly you are
eating that way,

Peruse the random messages with recipes here (many but not all will
have a picture too).

Learning about Food
 

Harlequin wrote:

>
> I am not a cook, and this post is not about cooking, but it is about
> food and its appreciation.
>
> This may sound a bit daft; but growing up, I didn’t particularly
> pay much attention to the food I was eating. Nor did anyone in my
> family; being on the eating-to-live side of the spectrum rather than
> the living-to-eat. As I have grown up, however, I have begun to enjoy
> food, eating, and the entire culture surrounding it; but my knowledge
> is superficial, and I really want to explore and learn more. There is
> a lot of scope for me to do so - so much is new to me at this stage.
>
> I had these questions:
>
> 1. How to identify and appreciate a well cooked dish? To know the
> various parameters to judge - flavour, texture, etc. To know when they
> are done correctly/done well. Including the understanding of the
> subtleties in the dish.
>
> 2. In traditional cuisines, to know how a dish “should”
> taste; what its flavour or texture should be like.
>
> 3. To know the things the chef did to make it that way: the ideas
> behind the dish, perhaps even the relevant technical aspects of
> cooking behind it.
>
> 4. The above three points in particular relation to traditional
> cuisines; but: In addition to traditional cuisines, appreciating the
> work of a chef who comes up with new things, pushes the boundaries or
> breaks the rules.
> As aforesaid, I am not a cook, and I am not actually interested in
> cooking myself; I wanted to ask this question from the point of view
> of someone who eats (and admires) food.
>
> In a sense, my question is about how to understand and appreciate good
> art, rather than how to be an artist yourself.
>
> Does this knowledge come only with eating out and trying a lot of
> things? Or cooking a lot? Are there any books which can help with
> this? Does reading books on cuisines, and recipe books, help? Any
> good websites or other resources on the Internet?
>
> Any answers would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!

Ask them, theyre here
--
The real Dr. Bruce posts with uni-berlin.de - individual.net

Learning about Food
 

On 28/04/2021 16:17, songbird wrote:
> Harlequin wrote:
> ...
>> In a sense, my question is about how to understand and appreciate good
>> art, rather than how to be an artist yourself.
>>
>> Does this knowledge come only with eating out and trying a lot of
>> things? Or cooking a lot? Are there any books which can help with this?
>> Does reading books on cuisines, and recipe books, help? Any good
>> websites or other resources on the Internet?
>>
>> Any answers would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!
>
> tastes and preferences vary so much from person to person
> that what i can recommend is to get out and try as many
> different things as you can.
>
> cooking skills you can watch the many shows on t.v. which
> demonstrate them and talk about food. some cooks are much
> better at explaining things than others.
>
> for now you can do things like think about what you have
> experienced and what you've enjoyed and the various aspects
> of those times.
>
> if needed keep a journal and develop a plan to try new
> things that you've not experienced before.
>
> to me, since i've been cooking since i was a fairly young
> kid and i've tried to learn how to cook new cuisines as time
> has gone on so i'm fairly open to trying new things, but
> where i'm at right now is pretty limited for time and money
> so i have to experiment once in a while and be happy with
> that. the person i live with has a very simple and restricted
> palate and special requirements so i go with the flow as much
> as i can here and then once in a while make something for
> myself that has different spices or ingredients.
>
> i do think that reading cookbooks can help to expose you
> to how dishes can look and ideas of how to present things
> but i'm not huge on presentation as much as i want the dishes
> to taste authentic enough that i would recognise them again
> (no matter how they are presented) and understand the basics
> of the different ingredients and the history is also too
> sometimes pretty interesting.
>
> if you are not already familiar with the basic kinds of
> cooking techniques and the terms that is a good place to
> start nibbling away at as you have time. reading various
> cookbooks will give you that information and exposure to
> different methods of getting the same sorts of results.
>
> nothing wrong with taking your time, enjoying the journey
> and finding out what you like and what to avoid. :)
>
>
> songbird

======

I absolutely agree! Well said:)

Learning about Food
 

cshenk wrote:

> Harlequin wrote:
>
> >
> > I am not a cook, and this post is not about cooking, but it is about
> > food and its appreciation.
>
> Actually it kinda is as we read down.
>
> >
> > This may sound a bit daft; but growing up, I didn’t
> > particularly pay much attention to the food I was eating. Nor did
> > anyone in my family; being on the eating-to-live side of the
> > spectrum rather than the living-to-eat. As I have grown up,
> > however, I have begun to enjoy food, eating, and the entire culture
> > surrounding it; but my knowledge is superficial, and I really want
> > to explore and learn more. There is a lot of scope for me to do so
> > - so much is new to me at this stage.
>
> My Mom wasn't much of a cook so there were a lot of things I'd never
> had when I moved out. Within my poor student putting herself through
> college budget, I'd make it a point to get 'something I'd never tried'
> every grocery trip.
>
> Initially it was all in the vegetable and fruit section. I got a
> cheap cookbook at a yardsale and I'd bring it with me to the store.
> Not everything was a success but enough was, to keep plugging at it.
>
> >
> > I had these questions:
> >
> > 1. How to identify and appreciate a well cooked dish? To know the
> > various parameters to judge - flavour, texture, etc. To know when
> > they are done correctly/done well. Including the understanding of
> > the subtleties in the dish.
>
> It's more a matter of do YOU like it? If you do, it's good. Most
> dishes don't have that much subtelty
>
>
> > 2. In traditional cuisines, to know how a dish “should”
> > taste; what its flavour or texture should be like.
>
> You get a feel for it in time. Eventually you can tell if you will
> like a dish just from the recipes used.
>
>
> > 3. To know the things the chef did to make it that way: the ideas
> > behind the dish, perhaps even the relevant technical aspects of
> > cooking behind it.
>
> That you will find in many cookbooks. I have a small 3 shelf bookcase
> in the kitchen and all 3 are filled with cookbooks. One of them is
> 'Jeff Smith, the Frugal Gourmet' (He disappears after accusations of
> sexual misconduct with minors but the books were fine). He tells a
> bit of history and background in them with the dishes.
>
> (snip)
>
> > As aforesaid, I am not a cook, and I am not actually interested in
> > cooking myself; I wanted to ask this question from the point of view
> > of someone who eats (and admires) food.
>
> For every cook, you need an 'eat' to enjoy the food.
>
> > Does this knowledge come only with eating out and trying a lot of
> > things? Or cooking a lot? Are there any books which can help with
> > this? Does reading books on cuisines, and recipe books, help? Any
> > good websites or other resources on the Internet?
>
> It can come with eating out but you seldom know what exactly you are
> eating that way,
>
> Peruse the random messages with recipes here (many but not all will
> have a picture too).

http://cheepeffects.com
http://cheepeffects.com
http://cheepeffects.com
http://cheepeffects.com
http://cheepeffects.com
http://cheepeffects.com
http://cheepeffects.com

Ask them, theyre here. "You can stop saying that now. Thank you."
--
The real Dr. Bruce posts with uni-berlin.de - individual.net

Learning about Food
 

On Wednesday, April 28, 2021 at 10:56:37 AM UTC-5, Donald Shenkenberger wrote:
> On 4/27/2021 4:39 PM, Harlequin wrote:
> > I am not a cook, and this post is not about cooking, but it is about
> > food and its appreciation.
> >
> > This may sound a bit daft; but growing up, I didn’t particularly
> > pay much attention to the food I was eating. Nor did anyone in my
> > family; being on the eating-to-live side of the spectrum rather than the
> > living-to-eat. As I have grown up, however, I have begun to enjoy food,
> > eating, and the entire culture surrounding it; but my knowledge is
> > superficial, and I really want to explore and learn more. There is a lot
> > of scope for me to do so - so much is new to me at this stage.
> >
> > I had these questions:
> >
> > 1. How to identify and appreciate a well cooked dish? To know the
> > various parameters to judge - flavour, texture, etc. To know when they
> > are done correctly/done well. Including the understanding of the
> > subtleties in the dish.
> >
> > 2. In traditional cuisines, to know how a dish “should”
> > taste; what its flavour or texture should be like.
> >
> > 3. To know the things the chef did to make it that way: the ideas behind
> > the dish, perhaps even the relevant technical aspects of cooking behind
> > it.
> >
> > 4. The above three points in particular relation to traditional
> > cuisines; but: In addition to traditional cuisines, appreciating the
> > work of a chef who comes up with new things, pushes the boundaries or
> > breaks the rules.
> > As aforesaid, I am not a cook, and I am not actually interested in
> > cooking myself; I wanted to ask this question from the point of view of
> > someone who eats (and admires) food.
> >
> > In a sense, my question is about how to understand and appreciate good
> > art, rather than how to be an artist yourself.
> >
> > Does this knowledge come only with eating out and trying a lot of
> > things? Or cooking a lot? Are there any books which can help with this?
> > Does reading books on cuisines, and recipe books, help? Any good
> > websites or other resources on the Internet?
> >
> > Any answers would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!
> >
> >
> The only difference between a good meal and a good time
> is where you put the cucumber.
>
Mr. Shinklehooper, that was naughty. I once dated a girl who liked
cold carrots. I think that a cucumber would have been too large.
Plus, the bumps on them can be kinda pointy. If she (or I) had been
different in other ways, perhaps we would have ended up together,
and the crisper would have had a role in our repertoire.

--Bryan