Comments on: Dating Your Food Before You Marry It

By: Kaleberg

Kaleberg — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 04:56:13 +0000

Having each diner served a series of courses on a series of plates was originally called Russian style service. Before it was popularized Western Europeans served themselves from sets of large serving dishes placed on the table for each “remove” much as is done “family style” at many Chinese restaurants. It is easy to forget that something as familiar as dining has a history, but then again, so do helium atoms.

My experience is that it is easier to produce good small dishes than good entrees. I have been to all too many high end restaurants with great entrees, great desserts, but mediocre entrees. A woman friend of mine is convinced that these places are aimed at women who ignore their main course and “save the calories” for a megadose of chocolate. She is a main course sort.

Since a main dish has about the same level of variety across the plate as the appetizer, but is much larger, the challenge is getting a high enough flavor density, achieving a thematic balance and providing enough internal variety. This can require a fair bit of technique and control if only for simple physical reasons. This is also why a lot of restaurants have mediocre main dishes. Moving to small plates is actually the easy way to improve the quality of the food overall.

By: Greg

Greg — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 01:39:49 +0000

Damn Mathijs, you’re good! I bet you score really high at the IQ tests…

By: Mathijs van den Bergh

Mathijs van den Bergh — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 18:05:30 +0000

…the cosmological constant problem, global warming, extreme poverty…

One of these things is not like the others.

By: Ginger Yellow

Ginger Yellow — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 13:42:20 +0000

“And if you buy a sandwich with ham, what you get is a huge piece of ham with a microscopic piece of bread. So, it is very hard to get enough carbohydrates in the US.”

Go to an Italian restaurant, then. I’ve never once been able to finish a main course at the Italian restaurant my family goes to when we’re in Champaign.

By: Count Iblis

Count Iblis — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 17:03:18 +0000

Anon, yes, I’m not from the US. But in the US you get a large piece of meat and the food contains a lot of fat. You are still not served large portions.

I once ordered a some dish with steak and potatoes. But what I got was a huge steak and only two small pieces of potatoes. So, I asked if I could have more potatoes. I got another dish with potatoes but that was still not enough, so I had to order again.

And if you buy a sandwich with ham, what you get is a huge piece of ham with a microscopic piece of bread. So, it is very hard to get enough carbohydrates in the US. It seems that the whole country is on the Atkins diet.

By: Mary

Mary — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 14:52:22 +0000

Tomorrow I’ll eat pork! Do you think I should date that pig before I eat it? Most of my friends are dating pigs anyway, and quite a few of them are married to pigs… If I was a man, however, I wouldn’t dare dating a female pig, cause pigs are pretty smart creatures and, as known, men are scared of clever women (I doubt that the difference in species will bother them as much as the difference in intelligence).

By: Mark

Mark — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 13:09:07 +0000

You must be from the wrong part of northern England Ian

By: Emanuele

Emanuele — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 10:31:55 +0000

Someone forgets Italian food….in Italy, restaurants are expensive, but the cooks are fantastic. To try in order to believe!

By: Ian B Gibson

Ian B Gibson — Sun, 09 Dec 2007 14:04:35 +0000

If you savor the meal as a multi-level sensory experience rather than a obligatory intake of calories

I’m from northern England - that sentence makes no sense to me whatsoever.

By: Arun

Arun — Sun, 09 Dec 2007 13:14:49 +0000

You mean this age-old invention?
http://community.iexplore.com/photos/journal_photos/goa_thali_4.jpg

By: Sean

Sean — Sat, 08 Dec 2007 03:55:58 +0000

Greg, I am slightly appalled that you would take time out from combating global poverty in order to comment on our blog.

By: Greg

Greg — Sat, 08 Dec 2007 03:22:33 +0000

“Why is the entree in danger of becoming the California condor of the menu?

One theory is that people like to customize their worlds. Personalized playlists on iPods have replaced albums. TiVo has replaced channel surfing. In this quick-cut, video-on-demand universe, the entree is Walter Cronkite.”

Kim Severson

I find it worrying that, in a world where problems are rapidly globalised, people tend to become more and more isolated inside their customized microcosms. Instead of cultivating our awareness in order to tackle today’s urgent global needs, we tend to develop fake fancy needs to keep us busy during our spare time. We prefer morning show hosts telling us the news, wondering around lost in our own personal bubble of sound, and “dating our food before we marry it”, while at the same time, the majority of people on this planet struggle to get the minimum intake of calories they need to survive!

By: Greg

Greg — Sat, 08 Dec 2007 00:31:50 +0000

Thank god (or more technically, the US) that we live in a time where the world has solved so many of its problems (the cosmological constant problem, global warming, extreme poverty, etc.), so that we can all engage our thoughts into such important lifestyle issues like the “diminution of the role of the entree in American restaurant cuisine”… Sean, did Takami paid you to advertise it, or are you really that “food snob”?

By: markk

markk — Sat, 08 Dec 2007 00:31:37 +0000

The best restaurant meals in my life were in France when I would tell the Maitre’D or the head waiter that I was in their hands, and perhaps whether I was aiming for lighter or heavier faire. I let the experts do their job, and I certainly wasn’t disapointed. They appreciated it also even though I was a dumb American.

I will agree with #1 - look at all the Buffalo Wing restaurants, and such. it is exactly in the Sports Bar/Food joint that you already get a bunch of small servings now. Not the healthiest food, but that is exactly how all things are served.

By: anon.

anon. — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 21:20:16 +0000

Most restaurants already serve tiny portions. When I eat in a restaurant, I usually have to eat again at home.

I guess you don’t live in the US?

By: Sam Gralla

Sam Gralla — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 19:28:05 +0000

Personally, I prefer the standard french/italian multi-course meal, with the food and wine chosen entirely by the chef. Much easier, and certainly better than anything I could come up with.

By: graviton383

graviton383 — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 18:34:58 +0000

One of the problems with small plates, which I enjoy, is choosing the appropriate wine..always a challenge!

By: Count Iblis

Count Iblis — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 17:44:06 +0000

Most restaurants already serve tiny portions. When I eat in a restaurant, I usually have to eat again at home. When I’m at a conference this is really a problem. I’ll try to eat food for two persons, but the problem is that after 20 minutes they start to serve dessert while I’ve just started eating the second course

By: anonymous

anonymous — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 16:28:09 +0000

Of course, grad students have no opinions either way, as we neither live nor eat…

By: anonymous

anonymous — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 16:25:22 +0000

According to Google, it was Molière’s character Valère in The Miser: “il faut manger pour vivre, et non pas vivre pour manger”,

http://de.wikiquote.org/wiki/Moli%C3%A8re

http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/6923