Tasty.

Revelation: I like food that tastes good.  This may seem like a very obvious statement, but when was the last time you really tasted something?  A lot of the food we eat is good to us because it is familiar, not because the flavor dances on our palates.  I want palate dancing food, gosh darn it!  If you know me, you know that I have an extreme weak spot for Wendy's (#6 Spicy Chicken Sandwich Combo, medium size, no tomatoes, add cheese and pickles with a coke).  However, recently, I began to question whether my Wendy's Achilles's heel exists because the food actually tastes good or because it is an emotional comfort food that helps me recall memories of eating the crispy chicken goodness when I was a kid with my mommy.  Personally, I think the #6 is so good that I would classify it as a palate dancer, but most culinary snobs would probably say I like it because I just don't know any better.

Since I am in culinary school, it is probably a good idea if I at least learn what the culinary snobs are talking about before I ignore it and pull up to the Wendy's drive in window.  This means I have to learn how to taste like them, right?

Let's take a step back...we all put our pants on one leg at a time and we all have the same taste buds.  Anyone can learn to refine their tasting abilities (snobbery not required).  Taste is simply one of our basic senses.  The trick is learning how to interpret and analyze what you are tasting.  Think back to elementary school when you had to look at the tongue diagram.  If you didn't benefit from that in-depth of an elementary school education, or you were more concerned about recess, just look at the picture on the top of this blog post.  We have the ability to taste salt, sweet, sour and bitter in various locations on our tongues.  We can also taste the lesser known umami, which is savory.  Great tasting food does pirouettes on the various taste buds creating a flavor profile that makes us smile blissfully without realizing we have sauce on our chin.

Ready to fire up those taste buds?  Karine J, a fellow budding chef at Le Cordon Bleu, gave me a fab tasting guide that I wanted to share with all of my TCP Friends.  Use the following questions to learn how to taste your food.

• What is the overall first impression in appearance, smell and taste?  As mentioned in Sexy. how food looks will determine how much the diner enjoys their meal.
• What are the primary flavors?  Can you taste salty?  How does it tango with umami?  What do you taste first?  Are there many layers of flavor or only one overpowering flavor behemoth?
• What subtle aromas and flavors are present?  Sometimes the best flavors wink at you at the end of the bite.  Does that crème brûlée have a hint of lavender?  Was that a honey sweetness lilting off the end of that pasta sauce?
• How do the components of the dish taste separately and together?
• Do any variations in texture or temperature enhance or detract from the dish?  Spicy foods will seem even spicier when the food is served hot.  Is that a nasty mush or a delectable cream?
• What ingredients and cooking techniques were used to create the dish?  Can you taste every ingredient?  Can you guess what might be in Big Mama's "special sauce"?  (How much you wanna bet it's ketchup?)
• How could the dish be improved?  Now don't get crazy.  Don't go around acting like you are a Certified Master Chef just because you discovered your taste buds.  Keep you opinions to yourself unless requested, please and thank you.

Learning how to taste more accurately will help you enjoy your food.  It will also make you slow down and savor each bite.  You might even have the side effect of actually paying attention to your dining partner (shock and awe!).  

Now that I have shared the super hidden, ultra confidential, top secret secrets of culinary snob tasting, there are a few rules you must follow:
Rule 1) Don't get all rude and snotty with the cook just because you think you are a master taster now.
Rule 2) Slow down and enjoy your food
Rule 3) Try the #6 Spicy Chicken Sandwich at Wendy's
Rule 4) Cook!

Announcement: God is good!  I am the new LA Cooking Examiner on Examiner.com!  To read all of my articles, please use this link: http://www.examiner.com/cooking-in-los-angeles/aleya-williams.  Don't fret, I am going to do my very best to make sure that my blog and Examiner.com pages have unique content.  That means you should read them both!  In fact, I highly encourage reading both, because the Examiner.com page could help me financially while I am in school (that means it is a paying gig).  Think you got what it takes to be an Examiner?  Click on my referral link to apply: http://exm.nr/lZviNw.

Enjoy eating, smile with your mouth full and be blessed!

Sexy.

There is a reason the act of fine cooking is called "culinary arts" versus "culinary slap-it-on-a-plate" or "culinary piles of nasty looking food."  Besides the sometimes painstaking technique involved in making food taste amazing, making the dish look appetizing is equally as important.  It takes a true artist to create a nutritious, Michelle Obama approved meal and turn it into a thing of beauty.

Sexy food is more than just plopping the recommended portions in the appropriately colored space on the "Choose My Plate" food plate.  Food that inspires the aptly, yet raunchily named "food porn" makes you salivate while looking at it on your computer screen (no judgment).  Sultry food beckons you to seek after it, call to it and pay until your pocketbook looks at you in disgust for it.  While I have never eaten at Thomas Keller's Bouchon or The French Laundry, I am craving a trip solely based on how enticing the food looks (that and their iron-clad reputation and ultra-amazing chef).  While you may have not won a James Beard Award, have Three Michelin Stars or be a Master Chef (CMC), you can still strive for plating perfection with your everyday culinary creations.  We all know that you are sexy, so have your food look as good as you do.  

Beauty.  Think of food as a medium for artistic expression rather than utilitarian nourishment.  Take pride in your presentation and find joy in the impressed faces of your friends and family (because, just in case they were wondering, you are the bizness).  The five components to a Playboy worthy entree plate are Protein (5-7 oz), Starch (3-4 oz), Vegetables (3-4 oz), Sauce (2 oz) and Garnish.  Please note these are traditional French cooking portions.  They are not Obama sanctioned.  A well-plated dish takes 4 style points into account: Colors, Shapes, Textures and Flavors.  Play with the plating components and style points as you would paint on a canvas.

Other Tips:

• Try working in odd numbers (3 slices of chicken breast, 5 small lumps of crab meat).   People are naturally drawn to the symmetry and balance that odd numbers provide. 
• Play with plate size and shape, but make sure the portion size coincides with the size of the plate.
• While classic plating encourages chefs to place the protein in the middle of the plate, modern ideas allow for the main ingredient to be placed anywhere.  Keep in mind that the highest item on the plate will most likely be the focal point of the dish.
• White plates work best.  It is always better to use a clean, blank canvas.
• NEVER put food on the rim of the plate.  You can get artsy, but not that artsy
• Don't be afraid of negative space in between food items.  It is ok to see the plate sometimes (before you have eaten everything off of it).
• Serve hot foods on oven-warmed hot plates (don't burn yourself!) and cold foods on freezer-chilled cold plates.  Your diners will enjoy their food better at the appropriate temperature.  No matter how tantalizing your presentation, cold food that should be served hot is not sexy. #epicfail
• Garnish with dish-appropriate items and feel free to play with different cuts for veggies etc.  Be adventurous!  Remember, you have entered into a life-long, committed relationship with food.  All married couples know that a successful relationship needs to maintain a bit of spice!

The Beast.  Most of us are guilty of dropping a dollop of protein next to a mush of starch and tossing in a few veggies (more for moral rather than nutritional purposes).  PSA: Stop the ugly food movement!  If the plate looks like you didn't care about the food when you cooked it, why should  I care about it when I eat it?  Also, don't overload your plate!  Besides taking away from your personal sexy (thunder thighs), overloaded plates are not beautiful.  Just like in the world of fashion, simple and elegant are always the best options.  You would be surprised how much a clean presentation can turn your dinner from an obligation to an invitation.   Haphazard piles of food make eating a means to an end.  Why not make your meals culinary adventures instead?

I would love to see your plate designs!  Send me pics via Twitter @PerlaNovela1908 or stick a link to your pics in the comment section of the blog.

Get in touch with your creative side, love your food and stay blessed!

Plate Design by Culinary Instructor Chef Shane.  Perfection!

Mecca.

 
Legend has it that early in the morning, while this Princess is still dreaming of her latest Navarin D'Agneau Printanier (lamb stew, sub beef) triumph, dutiful observers of the culinary arts begin to descend upon their holy site: Restaurant Depot.   They come from quaint mom and pop establishments and classy catering companies in a myriad of vehicles ranging from small cars to light rigid trucks.  While it is known that they arrive in a constant stream that undulates in trickles and droves throughout the day, the annals are a bit vague on whether or not they fully prostrate themselves in front of the door before they enter.

These culinary pilgrims religiously make the same cuisine-driven Hajj several times per week, called by what few other places can offer: low (very low)-priced, high quality food.  Non-culinarians are prohibited from even looking at the building (ok, slight exaggeration).  Don't even think about entering unless you 1) have a healthy respect for food and the art of cooking (passion, love and dedication to the culinary arts is a plus) 2) Need to buy large (like really big) quantities of food 3) get jollies out of taking an awe-inspiring jaunt through Costco's Costco 4) posses a valid resller's permit/business license or tax-exempt certificate (technically the only enforced requirement, but the other 3 are unspoken rules).  I have heard rumors that Le Cordon Bleu students can shop using their I.D. badge, but until I try it, I will leave that to the category of unsubstantiated juicy gossip.

Recently, my Le Cordon Bleu class was allowed to take a highly-coveted look within the inner sanctum of The Depot in Pasadena.  While the aisles and freezer section are a bit overwhelming for a novice visitor, true appreciation of the store's reputation comes when you look at the price tags.  Let me break it down... If I were to cater a five course meal for 50 people that included a shrimp cocktail appetizer, spring salad, cheese plate, beef main course and dessert, my cost would be somewhere around $550.  However, if I were to purchase the same quality food from Gelson's, I would spend over $1,000 for a paired-down three course version.  Cha-ching!  Are you a convert yet?  I know I am.

While many of you may not possess the necessary credentials to shop at Restaurant Depot, I know that my fellow entrepreneurs will appreciate the cost savings.  As I envision and plan my future catering enterprise, one of my concerns was how I was going to maintain a healthy profit margin.  Food contributes extensively to the cost of goods.  Add in labor, equipment and other overhead and you have very little money to live off of and plant for future growth.  After visiting The Depot and learning about other sects within the food biz (Sysco, McLane, Gordon, etc) I am feeling a bit more confident in my future business' ability to turn a profit.  I know that some seasoned chefs and culinarians are proponents of learning the food industry trade on the job versus in school, but I am grateful for all of the useful learning nuggets Le Cordon Bleu provides.  If nothing else, my education will empower me to feel confident enough in my knowledge to venture out and become a leader in the industry.  Soon, I will be one of the money-spending Restaurant Depot Pilgrims, ready to turn passion into profit.

I will be sure to let you know when I try out my I.D. badge to make a purchase at The Depot.  Anyone who wants to help me practice my profit making skills is highly welcome :-)

Follow your passions, increase your knowledge and stay blessed!

Saucy.

Picture this:  Homemade, fresh pasta noodles straight out of the pot after being boiled.  Smell their bread-y, pasta-y goodness.  Feel the warm steam against your face.  Slippery yet satisfying.   The sensation takes you back to your childhood and mom putting a big bowl of "spisghetti" in front of you with tender care.  

Now picture all of your fond memories that surround pasta.  Birthdays, weddings, your trip to Roma, the guy you met on your trip to Roma... Now remove the sauce (from the pasta, not the guy).  Kind of depressing, isn't it?  While we all love fresh pasta, the sauce takes center stage in every dish.  In fact, sauces reign supreme in most dishes and marry the flavors together while creating a fine balance within the flavor profile.  Have you ever stopped to appreciate the Hollandaise on your Eggs Benedict or the creamy Béchamel in your lasagna?  You might want to take a moment to say thank you before you hurt your favorite sauce's feelings.  However, if your favorite sauce is "Prego," I am going to need you to increase your fine culinary appetite just a smidgen. 

Ever wonder where all of those sauces come from?  Well, just like people, sauces come from their mothers (duh!).  In the 19th century, the "King of Chefs," Chef Antonin Carême, gathered all of the poor orphan sauces in the French cooking world and organized them underneath four Mother Sauces so they could all find loving, happy homes.  In the 20th century, the "Father of French Cuisine," Chef Auguste Escoffier, took all of the foster child sauces and put them in permanent homes when he further modernized Carême's placement system.  Escoffier defined the five mother sauces that are in existence in modern cooking.   Not to get too graphic, but when a mother sauce and some daddy ingredients love each other very much, they get together and have a daughter sauce.  The five Big Mama's are Velouté, Béchamel, Tomate, Espagnole, and Hollandaise.  No, Tabasco and Cholula were not mistakenly left off the list.  The daughter sauces are endless...

To make sure all my TCP Friends are educated sauce connoisseurs, check out some more about the Big Mama's:

Velouté

From the French adjectival form of velour, meaning velvety

Velouté is a sauce made from a white roux, stock, bouquet garni and mushroom peelings.  Velouté is most often used with poultry or seafood dishes.  Velouté daughter sauces include Sauce Vin Blanc, Albufera, Allemande and Normandie, to name a few.

Béchamel

Named after the Marquis de Béchamel (Louis de Béchameil, Marquis de Nointel) (1630-1703), a financier who held the honorary post of chief steward to Louis XIV

Simply put, Béchamel is Velouté with milk instead of stock.  It is made with a white roux, milk, onion with clove, and salt.  Béchamel is often used in lasagna and croquet-monsieur.  The daughter sauces of Béchamel include Mornay, Nantua, Mustard Sauce and Soubise Sauce.

Tomate

Tomate is a French tomato sauce that includes salt belly of pork (bacon), onions, bay leaves, thyme, tomatoes, onions, carrots, celery tomato paste, and a bouquet garni.  This sauce may use a traditional roux, or may simply have flour added.  Unlike the chunky tomato sauce that is used in traditional Italian cooking, French Tomate is strained using a food mill and chinois until it is completely smooth.  Tomate is used in countless dishes and has been adapted in almost every culture’s traditional cooking. 

Espagnole

Possible origins of the name: The Spanish cooks of Louis XIII's bride, Anne, helped to prepare their  wedding feast, and insisted upon improving the rich brown sauce of France with Spanish tomatoes. This new sauce was an instant success, and was gratefully named in honor of its creators.  Espagnole’s role in sauce making was so paramount, the Jules Gouffé suggested changing the name to Française.

Espagnole is made with fonds brun (brown stock, usually veal stock), roux brun (brown roux), bacon, carrot, onion, thyme, bay leaf (bouquet garni) and tomato paste.  Espagnole daughter sauces include Sauce Africaine, Sauce Bigarade, Sauce Bourguignonne, Sauce aux Champignons, Sauce Charcutiére, Sauce Chasseur, Sauce Chevreuil and Demi-glace.  Espagnole is rarely used in modern kitchens due to the cost of ingredients and lengthy preparation time. 

Hollandaise

Named Hollandaise because it was believed to have mimicked a Dutch sauce for the state visit to France of the King of the Netherlands.

Hollandaise is a hot emulsification sauce or Emulsifiée (Froide et Chaude).  Emulsified sauces are sauces in which an amount of fat, in the form of oil or butter, is introduced into a water-based liquid.  Protein stabilizes the emulsion and keeps it from separating.  In most emulsions, egg yolks are used as the protein because they contain lecithin.  Mayonnaise is the cold version of Hollandaise and is sometimes referred to as the mother (or Little Mama, if you prefer) of cold emulsified sauces.  Although Mayonnaise is not a traditional mother sauce, it does have daughter sauces that are derived from it, including various aiolis, tartar sauce, rémoulade and gribiche.  Hollandaise uses heat and mixes egg yolks with a fusion of water and black peppercorns and butter. The most common daughter sauce of Hollandaise is Béarnaise, which includes a reduction of shallots, tarragon and a bouquet garni.  The most common use for Hollandaise is in Eggs Benedict.

My first homemade Mayonnaise :-)

After all of that, I am HUNGRY!  With my ode to sauces complete, I am off to tell my favorite sauces how much my stomach and I appreciate and love them.

Stay saucy and be blessed TCP Friends!