I have a friend that I see a few times a year, and when we do get together, we cook. I could say we cook for one another, but let's face it, whenever I cook, I cook first and foremost for me. Sure, I want the guests to enjoy the meal, have a pleasant - if not outstanding - experience, but it all has to begin with my palette.
My palette has changed considerably since I first came to this lovely little Valley in 1998. My neighbors were wine makers and foodies to the stupid degree, and they taught me to savor, to explore, to play. I've always loved to cook, but never really ventured into anything that could remotely be considered as 'gourmet' fare. Until the day I made osso buco for the four of us. Bruno walked in, saw what I was making, and immediately began to 'help' me. Bruno, Italian through and through, helps by doing. Sort of instructing - but loving to get his hands on the food, in the creation, be part of the process. And in watching him tend that meat so lovingly, the fragrant scent of slow-cooking beef filling the entire house, the exquisite tenderness of the finished product, the rich deep gravy that accompanied the meat .... well, so began my love-affair with real food.
Since then, I'll break out new recipes once in a while. Okay, more and more now, simply because it's fun to step outside of my comfort zone with food and keep learning, keep exploring, keep developing a palette. I've discovered something, though. If I can't actually imagine the taste of the finished product as I read a recipe, it will never please me. I've tried it a few times - the ingredients all sounded right, the flavor notes should flow and mingle and generally have a party in my mouth, and it was flat. Like being the only sober person at a very drunken New Year's Eve soiree, sort of leaves you wondering why the hell you were even there. So I need to actually visualize, with my mouth (sounds weird, huh?), the taste of the dish, smell the earthy notes of the meat, the salt notes of the sea. Otherwise, well, it's just a bunch of stuff on a plate.
And, as I've developed my palette, I've learned it needn't be fancy food. My girlfriend Tina cooked for me years ago, a simple Panko-breaded halibut, married it with Bruno's Pinot Grigio - everything was so in balance. Whenever I think of Halibut, it is that meal I remember. Exquisite. Because she nailed it. Got all the flavor notes to sing, play, party and dance ... that's what a memorable meal is, to me. Sure, the company is great, the conversation always scintillating - and it seems the more wine you drink, the more scintillating the conversation becomes - but when those flavor notes are all in balance, well, it's Nirvana.
My friend Peter is coming to dinner next week - he lives about six hours away, so we see each other infrequently. And when we do see each other, depending upon what city we are in, one of us is cooking for the other. The first time I dined at Peter's house, I was beyond intimidated. He prepared a menu for us! On heavy card stock! I've saved all the menus, because I'd never experienced such a thing before. The next time he was in my neck of the woods and I cooked, I prepared a menu - on one of those erase-boards that you wipe clean. I can still hear his shout of laughter when he saw the board. So he does formal, I do ... not. His cooking is amazing. He loves to play, he understands flavor notes, he's a wine connoisseur ... quite frankly, he intimidates me when I cook for him. Which is why I always try and pull a Tina - nail that right out of the park.
I've been playing with ideas for about four weeks, and finally have settled on the menu. As I read the recipes, I can actually taste the food - even taste the wines and sparkling that I'll be pairing with it. It's different from what I initially envisioned ... I'm no longer cooking anything I'm familiar with. Oh, but the excitement about tasting these foods ... Huge!
Stay tuned - because I'll circle back after our dinner next week, and share with you whether my mouth agreed with my mind, and let you know what Foodie Peter has to say about things....
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