What foods these morsels be

The understanding of ‘feasting with the eyes’ is no small reality.  When we find dishes lovely to behold, our appetite is enhanced, pre-digestion has begun, and we’re literally ‘watering at the mouth’ to eat.  Even photographs and TV depictions of foods can have us drooling.  Flavors are already being enjoyed in the mind; associations are working overtime with what we see and what we expect.

Simultaneously, if the food being viewed is in front of us and real, then aroma draws us in even closer, ramping up the energy and the desire to dine through that emotional memory of the flavors and smells bringing a precise expectation of gratification. 

Finally, as we begin physically to dine, the next sense to support our enjoyment is that of touch.  As mentioned often here, the ‘tooth’ of the bite is a huge contribution to the success of the meal.  Finding that ‘tooth’ place becomes possible by how the food is prepared, cooked, fried, boiled, cut, squeezed, pounded, torn, shaken, stirred and ground.  I’ll never completely understand that oral gratification of chewing and resistance in the bite, but it sure is a very real element of food enjoyment.  If everything we consumed were the texture of foam or paste, but still delicious, would we enjoy it as much?

I know I can safely say no way!

The bite.  That’s our hero.  Enjoying that bite by proportion to the size of the mouth, the ease to access that bite for the ‘chew’, and the ability to easily swallow is also the key.  The size of that ultimate bite is decided in how much cooking and preparation, and therefore, final breakdown of the morsel sizes.  Some vegetables cook away to ‘nothing’ over lengthy braising and boiling.  Some meats as well can be too soft or too tough for the pleasure of the bite, and some are most difficult to be enjoyed if they are portioned too big or too small, no matter how tender they are.  Planning the morsel size and texture during preparation in relation to the size and ‘bite’ at serving is necessary. 

A good cooking technique is to add small-diced vegetables at the onset of longer-time cooking which will veritably cook away over time, contributing basically their rich flavor; then adding the same vegetables but larger-diced, twenty minutes to a half an hour prior to finish to bring a tactile form of flavor to the dish on top of the earlier caramelized applications. 

Often we’ll see television cooks removing meats or other ingredients from a sauce or braise right after they’ve finished grilling or sautéing them, and adding them back into the recipe sauce at the end of the preparation.  There’s a reason for that idea.  Guarding against overcooking is not a waste of time.  It’s a great practice, and the flavor enjoyment is worth the planning.

Oh, and YES!, take care of your teeth.  Listen to your mom, and keep them all your life.