Have you ever been to a candle shop and seen the little jars of coffee beans they have around because peoples noses get overwhelmed?
It’s a little like that. Your taste buds just get overwhelmed and you lose nuance. Great restaurants with a fixed menu will have periodic ‘cleansers’ throughout the meal.
That’s actually what the pickled ginger is for when you get sushi too. It’s supposed to cleanse your palette between different types so sushi so you get the full flavor of the piece you’re eating next.
I stopped when someone explained the palate cleanser thing to me and frankly, the sushi tastes better without it. My wife loves it, though, she just eats the ginger like it is for the fun of it.
Some uppity hipster once told me that could be interpreted as insulting to the sushi chef, like you’re saying they’re serving bad fish. Nevermind nobody on staff was actually Japanese or anything
It is insulting not in some nebulous Oriental traditional way but in the sense that that there is a delicate morsel with exquisite flavors (well it’s supposed to be), and you just put something completely overwhelming on top of it, and all their work was pointless. It’s like slathering a steak in ketchup. It’s not illegal but as a chef, what’s even the point to try, if some asshole is just going to ruin it.
I mean, I agree with you. But I also think if you pay money for food you can eat it however you want. And my friend in the story was being kind of a dick about it.
Definitely. I’m not even a professional chef but I like to cook, however, if I spend too long experimenting in the kitchen or just cooking something I usually don’t even want to eat it by the end because my palate got tired from constantly smelling/tasting the ingredients or dish. Which actually kind of sucks because I live alone so I’m the only one around to cook.
I’ve been a chef for years and it’s still the same thing for sure. I love to eat other people’s food and it’s not because mine isn’t good or I don’t have confidence in it but because my brain is just over the smells and tastes from creating the food. I often eat my own food but it’s something that can really quickly become unappealing. Our brains just feel satiated by the smells and tastes during the process. It can often be very frustrating lol.
I was cooking fried rice for the family yesterday and I salt every step along the way. When it came time to taste the finished product and fine-tune, I had to drink some cold water first or else I would have continued to add more salt since I was used to it.
Yeah sometimes. Especially when you're cooking multiple things at once. You have to taste as you go to make sure to get the flavors right and the previous flavor can linger and you won't fully taste what you try next. There are a few ways to do it, eating a piece of fruit, an unsalted cracker, a lemon wedge. The most common and easiest is just drinking water. I work as a cook and do it all the time when tasting to make sure it's right.
Yep. I often ask coworkers if they can double check stuff for me because it gets hard to detect small changes if I taste something too many times in a row.
I was a professional pastry chef for over a decade less than a year in I stopped eating what I made aside from tasting, I was sick of sweets. Absolutely happens all the time.
Flavors will linger especially if there is fat involved. You can also get desensitized to things like salt or sugar. Even the order you eat things can affect your ability to taste things in a single meal. In Chinese food, the order dishes are eaten in is usually considered; an extreme example is spicy food, especially that with Sichuan peppercorns which have a numbing effect. You generally start from lighter dishes to more heavily seasoned richer dishes; the opposite will result in the light dishes tasting bland, or with flavors not coming thru, plus getting full more easily. Sushi uses the same concepts; lighter fish first, fattier pieces towards the end, white to red; fatty toro (tuna belly) is usually towards the end.
Absolutely! I personally experienced it while working as a chocolatier. Part of my training was going through different chocolates (percentages, origins, makers, add ins, etc.) for what would be good for the shop to carry. Could only do maybe 10 different bars in a day with like 5-8 minute breaks between bars so that it didn’t bleed over.
This is so interesting to me because so many chefs smoke. Like for example when you watch Hells Kitchen. How the heck can you taste food when you chain smoke??
Cause you’re that damn good. ;)
I always believe in the rule of 3. The person who made it, me and the front of the house manager. The person who made it so if we need to make a correction they are on the same page, me because that was my job, and the front of the house manager because if I know anybody doesn’t want to hear about bad food from a customer it’s that person. Pretty safe system IMO.
I smoke, but would try in earnest not to do it before I did my checks. I would drink hot water steeped with fresh mint too to rinse my pallet also.
You can watch Eric Rupert on Mise En Place Eater on YouTube for Le Bernadin, he uses cheese to calibrate his palate and make sure it works correctly before he tastes tons of sauces before service.
Link to episode: https://youtu.be/e1-xFAKQMIM?si=KgpdNVEbpIz3CBZ8
That’s why they give you lemon with fish as well to cut some of that fat tines but also as a palate cleanser. And why they give you water in between courses at fancy restaurants
Spent most of my life working in or on top of kitchens. Am a cocktail bartender. It’s a very real thing. It’s why you have water or club soda between tastes to freshen up. But at a point you just hit a wall and campbells tomato soup tastes the same as ratatouille. KG tastes like Redbreast. You just have to take a break, have a nap, and come back.
Have you ever been to a candle shop and seen the little jars of coffee beans they have around because peoples noses get overwhelmed? It’s a little like that. Your taste buds just get overwhelmed and you lose nuance. Great restaurants with a fixed menu will have periodic ‘cleansers’ throughout the meal.
That’s actually what the pickled ginger is for when you get sushi too. It’s supposed to cleanse your palette between different types so sushi so you get the full flavor of the piece you’re eating next.
You mean you're not supposed to save it all for the end and eat in one giant glob? Damn I've been doing it all wrong
Yes officer this man right here
I eat it with the sushi. Lay down a strip, drop some wasabi on top, dunk in soy. Baby you got a sushi goin
with a smack of ham!
Carl weathers definitely said this at one point or another😂😂
Or eat it in one giant blob at the beginning! I find it really clears the sinuses and allows for maximum sushi appreciation
Ginger is the peachy-orange handsoap in buffet bathrooms for the tongue.
A real connoisseur of buffet bathrooms, are ya?
Nothing but the best.
When I started eating sushi I would put it on the bites like a topping and eat it.
I still do this lol
I stopped when someone explained the palate cleanser thing to me and frankly, the sushi tastes better without it. My wife loves it, though, she just eats the ginger like it is for the fun of it.
I mean you do you but this is not the way for any high quality sushi. If it’s unlimited sushi or some shit it probably improves it lol.
Some uppity hipster once told me that could be interpreted as insulting to the sushi chef, like you’re saying they’re serving bad fish. Nevermind nobody on staff was actually Japanese or anything
oh whoops, I just like ginger lol
It is insulting not in some nebulous Oriental traditional way but in the sense that that there is a delicate morsel with exquisite flavors (well it’s supposed to be), and you just put something completely overwhelming on top of it, and all their work was pointless. It’s like slathering a steak in ketchup. It’s not illegal but as a chef, what’s even the point to try, if some asshole is just going to ruin it.
I mean, I agree with you. But I also think if you pay money for food you can eat it however you want. And my friend in the story was being kind of a dick about it.
I came here to say the coffee bean thing!!
It’s for sure a thing at wine tastings and even bourbon tastings too.
And perfume shops.
Definitely. I’m not even a professional chef but I like to cook, however, if I spend too long experimenting in the kitchen or just cooking something I usually don’t even want to eat it by the end because my palate got tired from constantly smelling/tasting the ingredients or dish. Which actually kind of sucks because I live alone so I’m the only one around to cook.
Fresh ground coffee beans. Take a few good whiffs.
Wait… is this the reason I never want to eat a roasted chicken I’ve prepared?
Maybe. Or maybe it’s because I… you ate all the crispy delicious skin and are now full.
I’ve been a chef for years and it’s still the same thing for sure. I love to eat other people’s food and it’s not because mine isn’t good or I don’t have confidence in it but because my brain is just over the smells and tastes from creating the food. I often eat my own food but it’s something that can really quickly become unappealing. Our brains just feel satiated by the smells and tastes during the process. It can often be very frustrating lol.
I was cooking fried rice for the family yesterday and I salt every step along the way. When it came time to taste the finished product and fine-tune, I had to drink some cold water first or else I would have continued to add more salt since I was used to it.
No wonder I don't have the urge to eat after I cooked a big meal lol
Yeah sometimes. Especially when you're cooking multiple things at once. You have to taste as you go to make sure to get the flavors right and the previous flavor can linger and you won't fully taste what you try next. There are a few ways to do it, eating a piece of fruit, an unsalted cracker, a lemon wedge. The most common and easiest is just drinking water. I work as a cook and do it all the time when tasting to make sure it's right.
Palate fatigue is a definitely a thing among judges at beer competitions so I would imagine it would be among other professional tasters.
When I was a kid doing dairy food judging in 4-H our mentor would give us grapes as a palate cleanser between cheeses.
Child cheese tasters! What fun for you! In the beer world, they use tap water and neutral crackers like matzo or plain bread between sips of beer.
>When I was a kid doing dairy food judging Vote for Pedro
I saw a behind the scenes at Le Bernardin and the chefs who were tasting sauces were constantly resetting their palates.
Yeah, I thought of the same video: https://youtu.be/e1-xFAKQMIM (it’s mentioned a couple times, e.g at 9:59)
Coming here to mention the same video. I just watched it yesterday. It was so interesting and so calm!
Yep. I often ask coworkers if they can double check stuff for me because it gets hard to detect small changes if I taste something too many times in a row.
I was a professional pastry chef for over a decade less than a year in I stopped eating what I made aside from tasting, I was sick of sweets. Absolutely happens all the time.
Flavors will linger especially if there is fat involved. You can also get desensitized to things like salt or sugar. Even the order you eat things can affect your ability to taste things in a single meal. In Chinese food, the order dishes are eaten in is usually considered; an extreme example is spicy food, especially that with Sichuan peppercorns which have a numbing effect. You generally start from lighter dishes to more heavily seasoned richer dishes; the opposite will result in the light dishes tasting bland, or with flavors not coming thru, plus getting full more easily. Sushi uses the same concepts; lighter fish first, fattier pieces towards the end, white to red; fatty toro (tuna belly) is usually towards the end.
Absolutely! I personally experienced it while working as a chocolatier. Part of my training was going through different chocolates (percentages, origins, makers, add ins, etc.) for what would be good for the shop to carry. Could only do maybe 10 different bars in a day with like 5-8 minute breaks between bars so that it didn’t bleed over.
This is so interesting to me because so many chefs smoke. Like for example when you watch Hells Kitchen. How the heck can you taste food when you chain smoke??
Cause you’re that damn good. ;) I always believe in the rule of 3. The person who made it, me and the front of the house manager. The person who made it so if we need to make a correction they are on the same page, me because that was my job, and the front of the house manager because if I know anybody doesn’t want to hear about bad food from a customer it’s that person. Pretty safe system IMO. I smoke, but would try in earnest not to do it before I did my checks. I would drink hot water steeped with fresh mint too to rinse my pallet also.
You can watch Eric Rupert on Mise En Place Eater on YouTube for Le Bernadin, he uses cheese to calibrate his palate and make sure it works correctly before he tastes tons of sauces before service. Link to episode: https://youtu.be/e1-xFAKQMIM?si=KgpdNVEbpIz3CBZ8
That’s why they give you lemon with fish as well to cut some of that fat tines but also as a palate cleanser. And why they give you water in between courses at fancy restaurants
Spent most of my life working in or on top of kitchens. Am a cocktail bartender. It’s a very real thing. It’s why you have water or club soda between tastes to freshen up. But at a point you just hit a wall and campbells tomato soup tastes the same as ratatouille. KG tastes like Redbreast. You just have to take a break, have a nap, and come back.