SC - Important Concept: Personal Tastes

[Jeanne Stapleton]

> <<  I, on the other hand, will not blindly follow
> ANY written 
>  recipe if I know that the end result is going to
> taste like swill. >>
> 
> How do you "know" that a recipe will taste like
> swill unless you follow it 
> exactly the first time?  For that matter, how do you
> know it will taste like 
> swill unless you have a base of comparison?
> 
> Mordonna (running for the rock, tongue firmly in
> cheek)
> 
I'm not going to run for the rock, but I am going to
agree with Mordonna:  I've tried some flavor combi-
nations that looked dubious on paper, but were
strangely addictive in the flesh or dough, as it were.

The strangest one:  the first of April is "le jour
de poisson", "fish day" in France.  I no longer
remember how or why this came about, but fish treats
and fish-shaped things are the thing of the day.
In high school, our French teacher made some cookies
that are apparently popular for this occasion:  the
three key ingredients I recall off the top of my
head were tunafish, peanut butter and soy sauce.

Okay, it sounds really revolting.  I ate one.  It was
weird, but not awful.  I ate a second and a third and
while I wouldn't want them for lunch every day, I was
satisfied that I could go to a French "jour de
poisson"
potluck and not stand around turning up my nose at
everything offered.

The header line says something I've been meaning to
say for a while:  frequently on this list, assertions
are made by individuals that something is "too salty",
"too spicy", and my least favorite, the calm
assumption
that "modern palates" are universally somehow
different
from "medieval palates".  Hey, they ate what they
had available.  Who knows that, if we had the techno-
logy to bring William Marshal forward in time this
evening and I were to take him to Taco Bell with me,
he wouldn't wind up completely addicted to the stuff?

It's worth remembering that your personal tastes are
just that, *PERSONAL*; yours and no one else's.  I
dislike as much as the next person being told what I
will and won't like.  For example, I am a notorious
sodium chloridaholic; hearing someone say something is
"too salty" is likely to bring me and one of my
close friends running to try it.  I tend to get put
out when I find people hard at work to eliminate the
salt from feta for use in a feast, because I don't
find salt the predominant flavor, and removing it
lessens the impact of this marvellous cheese.

That's a reason why having test diners is such a good
idea, and trying things over and over again--but try
it first as close to how it is written as you can, so
you can see what it's like.  I also, personally, tend
to eliminate test diners from my squad who are unable
to get the idea that no, "you need to add potatoes"
is not a constructive comment.  :-)

If anyone wants to use me as a taste tester, here are
my known foibles and likes:  I love "salty" things, so
I'm not a reliable gauge for "salty enough"; I love
spicy things and things with flavor and physically
cannot eat more than a spoonful or two of bland food;
basically don't like starches, love proteins; don't
care for raisins and currants with meats, but know
that they turn up a lot in medieval/Renaissance
cooking, so *am* able to correct for that one against
personal preferences...

Berengaria
major fan of all those strong, salty, spicy flavors we
keep getting told "Americans just don't like" ;-)

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