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Post by Sanji Himura on Jan 21, 2014 7:59:30 GMT -5
Have you ever opened yourself up to the question, if I were an Iron Chef judge, what would I insist on to give the most accurate score possible?
As you may be aware, being a judge on Iron Chef, regardless of country, is a difficult task because you have to judge on the merits of each dish, and stray away from the temptation on judging the meal as a whole. So, wouldn't you agree that these tips (even if they are put into practice already) would help in judging properly, and get the proper intent of the dish, without the interference from the taste of the previous dish? Let's go over a few:
1. I would insist on crackers after every course. Why crackers, and specifically, saltines? Crackers share a unique property that absorbs flavors that are left behind after a course if consumed immediately. Saltines add a flavor of saltiness that really cleans a mouth after eating or drinking while being otherwise tasteless, which is the objective of cleaning a palate. Sure, other cultures have ways of cleaning a palate, but the saltine cracker is the most universal in both their use as a key ingredient as a crust, and absorbing unwanted flavors. It is for this reason that taste tests across America use the cracker to get rid of unwanted flavors for as long as I can remember.
2. If I were a judge on Iron Chef, I would insist on water, or if I must drink wine, insist that it is non-alcoholic. Religion aside (as I am a Baptist), there is a culinary reason why I would refuse to drink alcohol with my meal. Alcohol impairs judgment. To put it this way, let's say that you are reviewing a nice French restaurant, and you get two glasses of wine to go with your meal that you are eating alone as you are reviewing the place. You write some information down and you go home and sleep off the alcohol and you wake up the next day to find that you don't understand what you wrote. So instead of going back to the place and reviewing it properly, you make up some information to appease your editors.
Dumb move? Yes, I would say so, but without knowing what is actually in the glasses that the panel drinks, I would insist that the possibility of impaired judgment should be eliminated so that I can be fair to the chefs on the merit of their dishes, not on what is today's food and wine pairing.
3. I would insist [Read: Ask] on taking notes on preparation. There was a local store in my area called Sysco, where their motto is, "A well informed consumer is our best costumer." Sometimes to understand the intent of their dishes, one must see the preparation of the food. Now, I understand that most versions of Iron Chef would allow judges to see the actual cooking of the food, so the "intent of the dish" is laid to bare.
Agree with my list? Debate me on twitter @sanjihimurafood.
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Post by tetsujin070561 on Jan 21, 2014 19:15:18 GMT -5
Have you ever opened yourself up to the question, if I were an Iron Chef judge, what would I insist on to give the most accurate score possible? As you may be aware, being a judge on Iron Chef, regardless of country, is a difficult task because you have to judge on the merits of each dish, and stray away from the temptation on judging the meal as a whole. So, wouldn't you agree that these tips (even if they are put into practice already) would help in judging properly, and get the proper intent of the dish, without the interference from the taste of the previous dish? Let's go over a few: 1. I would insist on crackers after every course. Why crackers, and specifically, saltines? Crackers share a unique property that absorbs flavors that are left behind after a course if consumed immediately. Saltines add a flavor of saltiness that really cleans a mouth after eating or drinking while being otherwise tasteless, which is the objective of cleaning a palate. Sure, other cultures have ways of cleaning a palate, but the saltine cracker is the most universal in both their use as a key ingredient as a crust, and absorbing unwanted flavors. It is for this reason that taste tests across America use the cracker to get rid of unwanted flavors for as long as I can remember. 2. If I were a judge on Iron Chef, I would insist on water, or if I must drink wine, insist that it is non-alcoholic. Religion aside (as I am a Baptist), there is a culinary reason why I would refuse to drink alcohol with my meal. Alcohol impairs judgment. To put it this way, let's say that you are reviewing a nice French restaurant, and you get two glasses of wine to go with your meal that you are eating alone as you are reviewing the place. You write some information down and you go home and sleep off the alcohol and you wake up the next day to find that you don't understand what you wrote. So instead of going back to the place and reviewing it properly, you make up some information to appease your editors. Dumb move? Yes, I would say so, but without knowing what is actually in the glasses that the panel drinks, I would insist that the possibility of impaired judgment should be eliminated so that I can be fair to the chefs on the merit of their dishes, not on what is today's food and wine pairing. 3. I would insist [Read: Ask] on taking notes on preparation. There was a local store in my area called Sysco, where their motto is, "A well informed consumer is our best costumer." Sometimes to understand the intent of their dishes, one must see the preparation of the food. Now, I understand that most versions of Iron Chef would allow judges to see the actual cooking of the food, so the "intent of the dish" is laid to bare. Agree with my list? Debate me on twitter @sanjihimurafood. This is a really interesting topic, thank you. I don't think many people would be 'impaired' in their culinary judgments after one, or even two, glasses of wine. Even if it were the case that a judge was tipsy, would that skew the voting results more than if someone who is unfamiliar with haute cuisine was on the panel? Also, there are many instances in which a tetsujin or chosensha provided a "palate cleanser" or varied the order of the dishes served to prevent the problem you addressed in your first point.
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Post by herringchoker on Jan 21, 2014 23:07:14 GMT -5
You make some good points, Sanji. I hear what you're saying about the alcohol, but I see Tets' point as well. If I may add another item for thought, a well prepared judge should be cognizant of the possibility of alcohol with some of the courses, and be prepared to only have a few sips to get the full effect of the combination of that wine with that dish. And, a bit of alcohol drunk with food will impair someone far less than alcohol on an empty stomach.
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Post by Sanji Himura on Jan 21, 2014 23:26:09 GMT -5
You make some good points, Sanji. I hear what you're saying about the alcohol, but I see Tets' point as well. If I may add another item for thought, a well prepared judge should be cognizant of the possibility of alcohol with some of the courses, and be prepared to only have a few sips to get the full effect of the combination of that wine with that dish. And, a bit of alcohol drunk with food will impair someone far less than alcohol on an empty stomach. To render your point as moot as possible, alcohol as an ingredient in cooking cooks out. As you should know, water boils at 212 oF. However, most drinking alcohols such as bourbon, Whisky and the like, are made of ethanol alcohol, or rather grain alcohol. Ethanol has a boiling point of 172 oF. So if you are preparing a dish that has bourbon, such as BBQ sauce, you would stand a better chance of cooking out the alcohol that you added into the sauce than you would boiling the sauce over.
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Post by tetsujin070561 on Jan 23, 2014 3:38:03 GMT -5
You make some good points, Sanji. I hear what you're saying about the alcohol, but I see Tets' point as well. If I may add another item for thought, a well prepared judge should be cognizant of the possibility of alcohol with some of the courses, and be prepared to only have a few sips to get the full effect of the combination of that wine with that dish. And, a bit of alcohol drunk with food will impair someone far less than alcohol on an empty stomach. To render your point as moot as possible, alcohol as an ingredient in cooking cooks out. As you should know, water boils at 212 oF. However, most drinking alcohols such as bourbon, Whisky and the like, are made of ethanol alcohol, or rather grain alcohol. Ethanol has a boiling point of 172 oF. So if you are preparing a dish that has bourbon, such as BBQ sauce, you would stand a better chance of cooking out the alcohol that you added into the sauce than you would boiling the sauce over. Himura-san, I think herringchoker was referring to situations where the chef serves wine with the dish, as in a "wine pairing" with a tasting menu, etc. You've made a really useful point about the use of wine or spirits in cooking, and issues with alcohol content. Interestingly, I've met people who were in AA and would not eat any food cooked with wine or spirits, in spite of the evaporation of the alcohol.
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Post by herringchoker on Jan 23, 2014 19:32:39 GMT -5
Thank you, tets, you understood my point exactly.
Sanji, perhaps I misunderstood your tip #2; I took it to refer to alcohol served with the food rather than as prepared using/including alcohol. I agree completely with your comment about the alcohol added to a dish cooking out the alcoholic content while leaving the taste.
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Post by Sanji Himura on Jan 29, 2014 16:46:55 GMT -5
Here is the irony of the situation though, I don't mind alcohol cooked in my food though for the precise reason that I can stay sober after consumption. However, if you serve me red wine that is supposed to be paired with a T-bone steak, for example, I won't touch the wine for the reasons that I have already illustrated in previous posts.
Of course, we should say all of that with the caveat that we don't know what actually goes on in the judging process of an episode, so they might be drinking ginger ale for all we know(since most episodes that I saw had the tasting panel drinking something "white"). Ginger ale is rather tasteless for a drink that has some flavor, but it is rather good for clearing out palettes. I know this for sure because I used to taste test sodas years ago, and they can be rather pungent some times. Every time they would approach me to do a test, I would spare a little change to buy a ginger ale.
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Post by tetsujin070561 on Jan 30, 2014 1:55:10 GMT -5
Here is the irony of the situation though, I don't mind alcohol cooked in my food though for the precise reason that I can stay sober after consumption. However, if you serve me red wine that is supposed to be paired with a T-bone steak, for example, I won't touch the wine for the reasons that I have already illustrated in previous posts. Of course, we should say all of that with the caveat that we don't know what actually goes on in the judging process of an episode, so they might be drinking ginger ale for all we know(since most episodes that I saw had the tasting panel drinking something "white"). Ginger ale is rather tasteless for a drink that has some flavor, but it is rather good for clearing out palettes. I know this for sure because I used to taste test sodas years ago, and they can be rather pungent some times. Every time they would approach me to do a test, I would spare a little change to buy a ginger ale. Well, I don't much fancy alcoholic beverages either, but for me, it's because of neurological damage caused by illness ten years ago. Not sure why you're continuing to make the same statements over and over again, but... Ginger ale? Seriously? Well, next time you're on an Iron Chef Japan or Iron Chef America judging panel, please feel free to imbibe on the soda as much as you wish...
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