Famous Chef?

(In reformatting my blog, this post was lost in translation, as far as font style, and I cannot figure out how to change it to look like the rest. It is driving me crazy!)

Gastronomy may prove to be my hardest class this block, but I enjoy every second of it. We continued talking about taste and flavor in today's class. Professor Raider thinks that developing one's palette is just as important as knife skills. Never before have I thought so much about the foods I am putting in my mouth as I do now. Does that mushroom have so much depth as to weigh on my palette? What areas of my mouth are sensitive to the tastes of salty, sweet, bitter, and sour? Considering I am in culinary school, I guess it is expected that I learn about taste, flavor, and texture. Raider suggests trying things three times (prepared three different ways if possible) before deciding like or dislike. If you try something three times, your taste will adapt to that food, and the initial response will decrease or change.

In Gastronomy and Product Knowledge, we usually spend the last thirty minutes of class tasting different foods. Today, in Gastro, we tasted seven different chocolates. It was a little different than tasting chocolates in Chocolate Science at UGA. We had three samples for each type, and with each sample, we were told to score the taste from 0-10 (such as SWEET 7, SALTY 2). I scored each sample for the third chocolate somewhere on the bitter, sour scale. The sixth chocolate was incredibly bitter, almost like chalk. Immediately after the sixth, we sampled the seventh. I scored the seventh on the sweet, salty scale. The third and the seventh samples were the same. Our mouth is an incredible organ, if you will, that successively contrasts, compensates, and adapts. Lastly, Raider explained the difference between caramelization and the Maillard Reaction (go UGA Food Chemistry!) and gave us a "caramel" to try, which was actually not heated to the proper caramelization temperature, meaning it was a "Maillard."

In Food Safety today, we talked more about pH and water activity. As far as food-borne pathogens and illnesses, foods less than 4.6 on the pH scale (called high-acid foods) are not considered TCS (time-temperature control for safety foods). Foods with a water activity lower than 0.85 are also not considered TCS foods. Therefore, foods with a pH above 4.6 and with a water activity between 0.85 and 1 are considered TCS foods, foods of concern for microbial growth. Vergili also lectured about Bacillus cereus and Clostridium botulinum, and the foods of concern with these microorganisms (starches for B. cereus and canned foods for C. botulinum). I am usually ready for that class to end after two hours.

I have about an hour between Food Safety and Banquet. I do not have a television in my room and therefore cannot watch some of my favorite shows when they actually air. So, I came back and watched the first hour of The Bachelorette. You can judge me, if you want; I admit that series is one of my guilty pleasures. Yay Chris from Cape Cod and Roberto.

Instead of typing useless words, I am going to eliminate some information regarding dinner and other meals. I feel like I write a paragraph and type "for dinner" or "for dessert" every blog. You get sick of reading it, and I am sick of typing it. Let's simplify life; it is too precious to waste time.

Dinner at Banquet:
Appetizer- Potato and Leek Soup with Mushrooms
Entree- Provolone and Spinach Stuffed Flank Steak, Polenta Fries (AH-mazing!), Zucchini
Dessert- Chocolate Hazelnut Cake with Creme Anglaise

Straight in front of me at dinner, at an opposite table, sat this guy that looked so familiar. I could not figure out for the life or me who he was, but I knew I recognized him from somewhere, not the CIA. I came back after dinner to figure it out before it drove me crazy. It was Stephen Asprinio from Top Chef (Season 1, I think). I just knew I had seen him on TV, but I do not know anything specific about him. There you go, my first famousish chef sighting.

Tonight, I am going to a Chefs for Community Service meeting. I have been exploring multiple clubs over the past three weeks. Everyone here has a common passion, food, and the clubs are rather interesting in bringing that passion together outside of class. Plus, with people facilitating on and off campus every three weeks, it is always a plus to get involved and meet new people.

Tomorrow, JCon is coming to visit me for a few days, and I am so excited. She is my first visitor technically (besides my sis, Fallon, and Morgan who helped me move), but hopefully she will not be my last. Come to Hyde Park. I promise you will want to come now rather than in a few months, if you know what I mean.

EAT MY WORDS

Haley