"I did not know that" food facts/techniques

[MacManiac1984]

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i think squid black ink pasta is the kind of dish that, although not difficult to make, quietly states "i know how to cook".

I’m gonna have to beg to differ on that one. As we eat first with our eyes. That just looks nasty. While it may actually taste good, I don’t think I would ever find out.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

I’m gonna have to beg to differ on that one. As we eat first with our eyes. That just looks nasty. While it may actually taste good, I don’t think I would ever find out.

Depends on what your eyes prefer.

I have had black ink risotto; it is not a dish I would wish to have every day, or every week, but it was delicious.

 

[willmtaylor]

I’m gonna have to beg to differ on that one. As we eat first with our eyes. That just looks nasty. While it may actually taste good, I don’t think I would ever find out.

While that is often true (and a favorite way of TV cooking show judges to deduct points), I've eaten plenty of stuff around the world that looked awful but tasted glorious.

 

[jtara]

That just looks nasty.

You're likely reacting to bad food photography.

I don't find that it looks disgusting in person - nor do the black Japanese noodles nor black rice.

The past and noodles have a glistening appearance, which is quite attractive. The rice is more of a matte appearance but flecked with white/brown.

Now... if it looked like THIS it would be terrifying!

https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/ezw8wp/mattest-flattest-black-acrylic-paint-anish-kapoor

 

[Darth.Titan]

Seriously, salt your water - it raises the boiling point and gives you a firmer, cleaner pasta.

Salt is for flavor, that's all. While salt does increase the boiling point of water (and decreases boiling time to boot), the amount used when cooking pasta won't do so by a noticeable amount.

To increase the boiling point of water any appreciable amount would require a TON of salt. This page says 58 grams of salt per half degree Celsius for each liter or kilogram of water.

I watch too much Good Eats.

 

[jpn]

I’m gonna have to beg to differ on that one. As we eat first with our eyes. That just looks nasty. While it may actually taste good, I don’t think I would ever find out.

hi

thanks for your good comment 🙂

yes. visual presentation can be important.

but, having lived abroad for so many years, and among those years many of which having worked and lived in SE Asia, i have found presentation of food less and less meaningful to how it tastes.

so your post made me think. (thanks for that!)

food in japan (not necessarily japanese food, but rather, food in japan) places a high value on how food is presented.
the bowl size, the bowl pottery type, the amount of food within that bowl, etc all have really well defined aesthetic customs.

but food in SE Asia, especially Cambodia and Vietnam, places far less value on how food looks.
in SE Asia, it is very much (1) taste and (2) volume (in that order).

black ink pasta doesn't look strange to me at all. not when compared to being offered bugs.

(photo: on bus, crossing the Mekong, cockroach snack sellers (sorry, cockroach is my term for these bugs)

 

[Scepticalscribe]

hi

thanks for your good comment 🙂

yes. visual presentation can be important.

but, having lived abroad for so many years, and among those years many of which having worked and lived in SE Asia, i have found presentation of food less and less meaningful to how it tastes.

so your post made me think. (thanks for that!)

food in japan (not necessarily japanese food, but rather, food in japan) places a high value on how food is presented.
the bowl size, the bowl pottery type, the amount of food within that bowl, etc all have really well defined aesthetic customs.

but food in SE Asia, especially Cambodia and Vietnam, places far less value on how food looks.
in SE Asia, it is very much (1) taste and (2) volume (in that order).

Agreed.

However, while it has been said (with some truth) that "you eat with your eyes", it is also true that how your eyes may choose to interpret culinary data may be influenced by cultural imperatives, conditioning and context.

 

[jpn]

Agreed.

However, while it has been said (with some truth) that "you eat with your eyes", it is also true that how your eyes may choose to interpret culinary data may be influenced by cultural imperatives, conditioning and context.

love it.
thanks.