In what ways is food a personal experience and in what ways is it a combination of quality ingredients and cooking expertise? Which do you think is more important?
I imagine that at a high end restaurant, quality ingredients and cooking expertise would inevitably compose a larger portion of the dining experience. My fine dining encounters are limited (non-existent), but hypothetically speaking, if I paid $582.50 to dine at The Grove, then yes, I am expecting my quail to be ‘divine’ and my chef to be able to ‘combine delicate texture and robust flavour’ (Simon Wilson, 2017) in a way that will make my tastebuds sing.
But there are nights when I’m not too sure what I’m eating. Not too sure if Simon Wilson would consider it food. I can’t forget morning afters of greasy leftover KFC and badly cooked ramen that are meals made of laughter and MSG.
Quality ingredients? Cooking expertise? In those moments, it’s all negligible.
(nutrition information, cooking directions, and ingredients of Shin Ramyun)
Food isn’t something to be seen in isolation. If anything, the context of where it is provides the majority of its meaning. Food is sustenance, but our series of lecturers have shown that food is also spirituality, a creative process and culture which makes me wonder, if it is possible to hold all of that significance in ingredients and cooking expertise?
Perhaps food in itself, comprised solely of ingredients and a specific method of preparation could elicit a ‘yum’. However, the complete meaning behind food isn’t created by our happy tastebuds. Just as food contributes to many areas of life, it is moulded by many: the atmosphere, company, backstory and the emotions behind each meal collaboratively form a personal experience, and this too, brings a lot to the table.
Reference
- https://thespinoff.co.nz/aucklan d/08-12-2017/the-critic-and-the-rookie-dining-out-at-one-of-aucklands-most-expensive-restaurants/
Your post made me think about the importance of the context of food. I eat ramen when I have a deadline as a way of succumbing to every trope about university students and embracing the stress. Of course, an expensive qual dish is going to be a more complex and memorable experience but sometimes I just want to eat an entire packet of chips and fall asleep on the couch.
I comepletely agree with your point that food isn’t something to be seen in isolation. I think you are so right in that, besides food being sustenance, it is associated with so many other aspects that goes beyond its usual perceived face-value of health and taste, simply because of is close and intricate relationship with us human. Your argument remind me of the powerful moment in Ratatoullie where the critic was transformed back to his childhood, by tasting his childhood dish in a high-end restaurant, which illustrates the meaning personal experience could bestow on a particular food.