STUDIOKITCHEN

Phoodie Interview.

Chatting with Collin.

Say What ?

A well known Chicago chef I will absolutely under no circumstances name forwarded me a blog post this afternoon asking for my opinion on something he had read  and wanted to know if I agreed.
Here is the post in question.

Read the whole post first.

The Flavor of Color.

For the record, Tasting menu is one of the best blogs out there full of solid helpful information by the very talented Dana. This is not an attack but an intellectual disagreement.

All  cooks  have a fiduciary responsibility not to allow dicey statements that go to the very heart of cuisine  to be taken as gospel.

The problem is not obvious but it is there.
Here is the problem :

This quote from the post clarifies the issue.

"I made a fresh sour cherry sauce that while stunning in flavor, was an off brown color. I split the sauce into two batches, and colored one with a bit of red food coloring. Two drops changed the dull brown color into a bright, vibrant red, much the color of the unprocessed cherries themselves. I had the cooks I worked with taste both and tell me which one tasted better, citing a difference in method as the reason for the color variation.

Cook after cook named the bright red cherry sauce as the better of the two. Way better, hands down above and beyond, they all said in their own words. To them, the bright red was an indicator of real cherry flavor, a better product, better handling, thus the sauce tasted better.

This brings up a deeper question. If the two sauces were identical in flavor, one only varying by the addition of two drops of color, then could one possibly taste better than the other? In fact the sauces were the same composition of flavor and texture, but in perception they were different, so which one is true?"

Overheard #1

"American Wagyu" isn't "Kobe" or "Matsuzaka"
The truth is only subject to interpretation if you work at the Pentagon.

BEEF