Eating is a form of thinking

February 23 2011, 9:51 PM  by Bernie Michalik

There are many ways to categorize eating. Athletes may consider it a way to
refuel. Gourmands may feel it is a way to enjoy themselves. Gourmets
instead may explain that eating is a cutural and aesthetic experience. All
those are true, but eating is or can be a form of thinking.

When someone reads a book, they may simply consume it and barely remember
it once they are done. But if they are thoughtful and the book is engaging,
then the act of reading it is a complex act of thinking. They will analyze
the story, the characters, the style of the writing, the themes and ideas
behind the book, as well as how this book compares to other books. They are
not simply reading: they are engaged in a form of thinking.

Likewise for eating. The diner may simply consume their food. However, if
they are thoughtful and the meal engaging, then eating too is a form of
thinking. You may think of the quality of the meal, how the dish is
composed and served, how original the dish is, what is the signifigance of
the ingredients, how does this meal compare to other meals, when you had a
meal like this, and so forth. The more you know about food and cooking, the
better you can think about your dish, much like how a well read reader can
think more thoroughly about the book he may be reading. You are not simply
eating: you are engaged in a form of thinking.

Tonight when I was having this schnitzel, I was thinking about the quality
of the meat, how the coating was prepared, the relationship this dish had
to Vienna (Wien) as well to Canadian Hungarian restaurants. I thought about
Eastern European food generally and how regions that have a lot of
differences otherwise may still share the same dishes. I thought about why
Hungarian restaurants serve such massive quantities of food and how that
relates to their culture. Later I had a very small strudel at the Aroma
cafe nearby and considered the similarities and differences between the
versions of this pastry served in either place. I thought much more as
well, but you get the idea. Eating is thinking.
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Sent from my BlackBerry Handheld.

898 views and 2 responses

  • Feb 24 2011, 6:53 AM
    Archimedes Trajano (Facebook) responded:
    Although I think about the taste and texture, I rarely think about origins of where the dish comes from usually.

    My expectation from "authentic" cooking tends to be lower, I rather someone makes it for the environment they are at. e.g. I prefer Pho 88 noodles than "authentic Vietnamese". I even prefer Jack Astor fajitas or Burito Boyz quesadelias over the "authentic" Mexican restaurant downtown.

    My thinking when I eat food (if I am in gourmet mode) are:
    * how's the texture
    * am I tasting the ingredient? (or is it covered in spices to hide the fact it is bad quality)
    * does the sauce enhance the ingredient or just hide it (Tojo's made a dish for me and one of them hid the taste which was kinda sad)
    * how much rice/noodle am I using to buffer the salt
    * what can I combine this with?
    * are there any cheater ingredients: MSG, excess salt, excess soy sauce, corn starch, hot spices
    * what other dishes / ingredients that I know would complement this dish?
    * what other dishes can I cook up with other ingredients but same cooking style? (e.g. pork sinigang vs bangus sinigang)
    * how would the ingredient taste like deep fried
    * how would the ingredient taste like BBQed
    * how would the ingredient taste like raw
    * Am I just tasting the spice? I personally don't like spicy food because I find that it masks the ingredient for the most part (which is why I avoid vegan / vegetarian dishes as they tend to make up the fact that the ingredients don't taste right with all the spices they add in).
    * How much oil is there?
    * Can I buffer this with tofu / rice
    * What can cancel out the taste or what can this cancel out? (e.g. if I had an extremely salty dish, I cancel it out with rice, if I had an extremely sweet dish, I cancel it out with a bit of chopped ginseng).

    Hmm that's a lot of thinking now that I have listed it down :) Thanks for making me think about it

  • Feb 25 2011, 5:40 AM
    Joanne MacDonald responded:
    ZOMG! That's a heck of a lot of thinking, just for schnitzel! lol!
    (Imagine if you had ordered a 5 course meal!)
    It never occurred to me before, but I suppose when I really THINK about it.... it's true. : )

    For me it's more about awareness.
    Like Trajano said, I too, am aware the salty/sweet balance.
    Also, if it is a meal in diner or a restaurant, I sometimes think about the condition of the kitchen! ....Is it clean? Did the cook & server, employ safe food handling procedures?

    Once when I was out running in London, my route took me behind a Persian food restaurant. I was appalled to see that just inside the backdoor (which was open) a huge "chunk of animal" was thawing in an uncovered plastic bucket sitting on the floor, which looked very filthy! Ugh!

    ...Just more "food for thought" about maybe doing some of your thinking BEFORE choosing the restaurant! LOL!