why is it that certain foods taste better when sliced a certain way, like fruit, cheese, bread, etc?
also, are wood cutting boards safe to use?
thanks
also, are wood cutting boards safe to use?
thanks
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foodie question
- Thread starter greendragon
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I don't think I've experienced food tasting better because it was sliced differently. It might be because you are getting different quantities in your mouth which may affect taste.
Wood cutting boards are fine, but I would be careful cutting anything on it after things such as meat (which goes for any cutting board really). Wood can be very porous, so clean it often and very soon after using it.
Wood cutting boards are fine, but I would be careful cutting anything on it after things such as meat (which goes for any cutting board really). Wood can be very porous, so clean it often and very soon after using it.
Properly cared for wooden cutting boards were found to have better germ resistance than plastic. Even so, it's still a good idea to have at a minimum, one board for vegetables and another for meat.
As for slicing things differently, there are a couple explanations. First, when you cook things like vegetables it helps if the pieces are uniform in size so that they cook at the same time. If you are supposed to dice your vegetable, and you cook it with some bits at a dice and others at a mince and still others at a coarse chop, you will find that some pieces are practically raw in the middle while others are greatly overcooked. In other cases, such as with garlic, the food reacts with components in the air to produce specific compounds. Garlic is much milder when it has been minced to a paste, which is why most recipes call for the use of a garlic press since most amateur chefs simply do not have the patience to produce a proper texture with a chef's knife.
With things like meats, many pieces of meat have a "grain", or a direction that the muscle fibers run. When you slice a cut like a flank steak across the grain (the proper technique) you disrupt the long muscle proteins so that you don't experience the "stringy" quality that you would get from cutting with the grain.
As for slicing things differently, there are a couple explanations. First, when you cook things like vegetables it helps if the pieces are uniform in size so that they cook at the same time. If you are supposed to dice your vegetable, and you cook it with some bits at a dice and others at a mince and still others at a coarse chop, you will find that some pieces are practically raw in the middle while others are greatly overcooked. In other cases, such as with garlic, the food reacts with components in the air to produce specific compounds. Garlic is much milder when it has been minced to a paste, which is why most recipes call for the use of a garlic press since most amateur chefs simply do not have the patience to produce a proper texture with a chef's knife.
With things like meats, many pieces of meat have a "grain", or a direction that the muscle fibers run. When you slice a cut like a flank steak across the grain (the proper technique) you disrupt the long muscle proteins so that you don't experience the "stringy" quality that you would get from cutting with the grain.
Preparation of food, including size of pieces will change the overall composition tongue that are influential on the taste experience. Size of a morsel can affect the taste experience.
On the cutting board issue, I don't use wood anymore. I have glass for chicken, and plastic for other items...vegetables, cheese, meats, etc., as the glass is very hard on knives.
On the cutting board issue, I don't use wood anymore. I have glass for chicken, and plastic for other items...vegetables, cheese, meats, etc., as the glass is very hard on knives.
i love me a good skirt steak. when cutting a skirt steak, it's always a good idea to cut across the grain of the meat. if you cut along the grain, you'll end up with chewy, not-so-tasty strips of meat. it's weird to think that food could taste so differently the way it's cut/prepared, but it does.
I totally agree with the OP
food does taste different to how it is sliced.
I use plastic, wood and marble cutting board depending on what I am cutting.
The marble is for dough - does not stick.
cheap plastic for meat - replaced at max every 3 months.
The Bamboo cutting boards are nice but be careful cause they do warp if left wet too long.
food does taste different to how it is sliced.
I use plastic, wood and marble cutting board depending on what I am cutting.
The marble is for dough - does not stick.
cheap plastic for meat - replaced at max every 3 months.
The Bamboo cutting boards are nice but be careful cause they do warp if left wet too long.
I'll second this. There's something about a big turkey sandwich cut diagonally that just can't be matched by one cut lengthwise.
I would agree as well, but a sandwich cut in half lengthwise is still better than a sandwich that is not cut in half at all.
I would agree as well, but a sandwich cut in half lengthwise is still better than a sandwich that is not cut in half at all.
Is it rude to not cut a sandwich made on a Kaiser roll or the like? The sandwich filling stays parked better when uncut.
Is it your own sandwich? I really don't think it is rude to not cut your own sandwich. If you are making a sandwich for someone else, I don't think they should complain.
I do have a problem with cutting wraps though. The deli I go to will sometimes cut a wrap at a rather sharp angle and trying to eat the thing is nearly impossible without all of the filling falling out. It looks good that way on the plate but it makes it hard to eat.
I love spring onions whole. However, slice them and I detest the taste and texture of them in my food/salad/sandwich. Totally bizarre!
On a slightly related note: I don't like the taste of canned beverages. However, pour it into a glass and I'll drink it. Again, I don't know why this is the case?
On a slightly related note: I don't like the taste of canned beverages. However, pour it into a glass and I'll drink it. Again, I don't know why this is the case?
Well that makes more sense, as it's probably related to the carbonation.
On the other hand, cutting a sandwich shouldn't change anything.
(but it does!)
On the other hand, cutting a sandwich shouldn't change anything.
(but it does!)
I love On a slightly related note: I don't like the taste of canned beverages. However, pour it into a glass and I'll drink it. Again, I don't know why this is the case?
Along similar lines..Why does water taste better when you drink it out of a crystal glass instead of a plastic bottle or cup?
Regarding canned beverages and water tasting better in a glass, I'm going to go out on a limb and say that it's probably largely in your head. BUT the way we experience taste is at least as important as the flavor itself. This is part of why the best chefs go so out of their way to make a good presentation of the meal.
That said, there are some differences in the taste. If you have chlorinated water, you can get rid of the chlorine taste by leaving it in an open container overnight (i.e. a lidless pitcher in the fridge) because the chlorine gas will escape. Obviously, you don't want to leave a container of water open in the fridge for TOO long because it will pick up other off flavors. Aroma plays a significant role as well; when drinking soda from a can or bottle your nose does not smell the drink. There is also the matter of temperature. Drinks served in a glass bottle will taste better than drinks served in a can partly because the glass does not transmit heat as well, so the drink stays cool longer. This is also why you always drink from a wine glass by holding its base or stem--this way your hand does not warm up the wine. Also, cans can impart an aluminium flavor.
Finally, the shape of a vessel is extremely important to how you taste it. Red wines and white wines are served in different glassware because of the places on the tongue that different shapes tend to direct the liquid toward. This is also true of espresso--a good demitasse is bowl-shaped, not cylindrical.
That said, there are some differences in the taste. If you have chlorinated water, you can get rid of the chlorine taste by leaving it in an open container overnight (i.e. a lidless pitcher in the fridge) because the chlorine gas will escape. Obviously, you don't want to leave a container of water open in the fridge for TOO long because it will pick up other off flavors. Aroma plays a significant role as well; when drinking soda from a can or bottle your nose does not smell the drink. There is also the matter of temperature. Drinks served in a glass bottle will taste better than drinks served in a can partly because the glass does not transmit heat as well, so the drink stays cool longer. This is also why you always drink from a wine glass by holding its base or stem--this way your hand does not warm up the wine. Also, cans can impart an aluminium flavor.
Finally, the shape of a vessel is extremely important to how you taste it. Red wines and white wines are served in different glassware because of the places on the tongue that different shapes tend to direct the liquid toward. This is also true of espresso--a good demitasse is bowl-shaped, not cylindrical.
Way too many rules going on here
Man was meant to eat... AND drink with his hands. If you can't rip it in to pieces, then bite pieces off slowly. Rice is best eaten with your fingers, as is pasta. I generally scope water in my hand from the faucet and drink it. Who wastes precious money on "glasses" and "cups"?
Man was meant to eat... AND drink with his hands. If you can't rip it in to pieces, then bite pieces off slowly. Rice is best eaten with your fingers, as is pasta. I generally scope water in my hand from the faucet and drink it. Who wastes precious money on "glasses" and "cups"?
On a slightly related note: I don't like the taste of canned beverages. However, pour it into a glass and I'll drink it. Again, I don't know why this is the case?
For me this is the case with heavily carbonated drinks. I can't stand to drink Sprite out of the can because the carbonation is too much. Put it into a glass and let the drink sit for a few minutes and I enjoy it. However, I need a straw because I hate it when the bursting carbonation bubbles splash onto my face.
... Who wastes precious money on "glasses" and "cups"?
I quit a job once after 10 months (hating it so much!) and without having another in hand. I figured to be frugal and just live off my savings account for a bit. Ten days into my new freedom, while walking with a friend who was a blues musician without a steady gig, I stopped in front of a shop selling high-end coffee mugs, vases, bowls etc. "I need some new coffee mugs," I said. "Look at that dark blue one with the lighter brush marks going up and over the lip of the cup!"
"Right," he said. "You WANT a fancy coffee mug. Just use an empty salsa jar."
Talk about revelations. I had no clue how to live frugally. The next morning I called my favorite job search guy and told him to expect my resumé by fax. In the meantime I tried to start looking at the planet with the eyes of the person I really was at that time: someone with no job and few liquid assets.
Well lest this count as hijacking a thread... I too often drink water from the kitchen tap by cupping my hands rather then fetching a glass.
wish some of my roommates would live a bit more frugally. Heck, wish my florida housing/apartment complex and the people who run it were much more into say recycling instead of watering the lawns/shrubs every fraking evening.
I'll might start separating our only 2 cutting boards for meat and veggies only. Doubt it would work though.
And yes, sandwiches cut diagonally are so much better for some strange reason.
Triangles trump rectangles, at least on the plate. Maybe they just look more professional, therefore must taste better? It was probably some woman's lucky discovery when her mother-in-law dropped in before lunch and all there was to work with was a loaf of white bread, half a jar of mayo and a couple of cucumbers.
Why does a fine cigar taste better when it's lit with a $100 bill?Along similar lines..Why does water taste better when you drink it out of a crystal glass instead of a plastic bottle or cup?
Triangular sandwiches do indeed taste best.
Incidentally, i was at at Steak House in Hong Kong, and was offered my steak with a choice of 8 'blades', 16 varieties of salt (including Australian blue) and upwards of 20 types of mustard.
And yes, it tasted better before i'd even put anything on it
Incidentally, i was at at Steak House in Hong Kong, and was offered my steak with a choice of 8 'blades', 16 varieties of salt (including Australian blue) and upwards of 20 types of mustard.
And yes, it tasted better before i'd even put anything on it
I have found as well, that when consuming a carrot, it tastes different if you bit down on a chunk one way as opposed to another... weird isn't it?
Now that's starting to sound like urban legend... or country legend.
My grandma's cook insisted that peeling a cucumber from a narrow to wide end (or vice versa, who knows) would make it taste extremely bitter. Even at age six or seven I had a lot of trouble buying that idea. Sometimes too I would stare at fresh cukes we'd just brought in from the garden, and wonder about the ones that didn't seem to have a large and small end.
I revisited the idea much later from the standpoint of cell biology, i.e., do skin cells in cukes align some certain way and then if the veggie peeler disturbs them against the grain, so to speak, do they take offense and act like tiny skunks? It was an entertaining vision but not very scientific.
Every time I peel a cucumber now, though, I hesitate for half a second.
My grandma's cook insisted that peeling a cucumber from a narrow to wide end (or vice versa, who knows) would make it taste extremely bitter. Even at age six or seven I had a lot of trouble buying that idea. Sometimes too I would stare at fresh cukes we'd just brought in from the garden, and wonder about the ones that didn't seem to have a large and small end.
I revisited the idea much later from the standpoint of cell biology, i.e., do skin cells in cukes align some certain way and then if the veggie peeler disturbs them against the grain, so to speak, do they take offense and act like tiny skunks? It was an entertaining vision but not very scientific.
Every time I peel a cucumber now, though, I hesitate for half a second.