Why does food taste so damn good? Ooh, I have a better question; Why does food that is bad for our health taste so good? Actually, the question I really am dying to have answered is; Why does food that might not look so appetizing, taste so phenomenal that it must be from a different planet? I don't really know the answer, but I do know that even though sushi is now my favorite food, I used to hate it!
When I was about eight I tried sushi for the first time with my family at my brother's birthday dinner. We ate at a restaurant called Hanabi in Buffalo Grove, Illinois and I absolutely dreaded going out for sushi with my family. I couldn't stand the stench of raw fish that filled the restaurant or the fact that there was nothing cooked on the menu. I resorted to making fried rice by combining white rice with soy sauce. The part I hated most was this green condiment known as wasabi. My brother along with both parents would load the wasabi up on each individual piece of sushi. I would always laugh when their faces turned red or when they would use a hand to fan themselves because of the overwhelming curve ball wasabi threw. I was so scarred to taste it because I had seen Ted Danson in the movie Made In America, unknowingly eat an entire ball of wasabi! It was a hilarious scene, but it frightened me for several years.
When I was 13 I went through a phase where I wouldn't consume any type of food without smelling it first. My family went to Hanabi again for my brother's birthday and I had a cold that block my sinuses, therefor, I was unable to smell anything. I decided to try something simple I began eating fake sushi such as California Rolls and Ebi Nigiri with a little bit of wasabi. Anything with shrimp tasted and smelled good to me now. Moments after taking my first bite, I noticed my sinuses opened up and I was able to smell and taste simultaneously. I realized that my taste buds were expanding, because now all of the sudden I like sushi. From that point on, I had no problem going with my family to eat and Hanabi or any other sushi restaurant. As I grew older and wiser, my taste buds expanded even more and I began liking raw fish, and progressively adding more and more wasabi to my sushi. I no longer smell my food before I eat it.
The point I am trying to make is that looks may be deceiving, but you cannot judge a book by its cover. Even though good sushi is prepared moments before consumption, presentation is almost just as important as taste and smell. Artistically speaking, it is possible for a particular food to look delicious, but taste absolutely dreadful! I know there is a connection between smell and taste, and my personal life experience has proven this fact. I cannot smell without my sense of taste and vice verse. The two senses go hand in hand. With regards to taste and sight, It is easy to make the mistake, assuming that food which may look appetizing probably tastes good too. Wrong!!!!
Challenge: Try some type of food that does not look very appetizing and you be the food critic. Perhaps an "F" for presentation and an "A" for taste!
Ross
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