Evaluating Food

Evaluating food takes practice, but it does become easier.  Begin by thinking about one aspect of evaluating and work on it until you become comfortable with it.  Then choose another aspect and practice that.  Practice evaluating your own food as you cook.  Practice when dining out.  It is only by evaluation that we can learn to form a standard of excellence. 

 

Sensory Evaluation

 

Sensory evaluation is using our sense to evaluate food.  We have five senses, sight, hearing, smell, taste and feel.  We see and smell food first, followed by hearing, taste and feel.  Observe this yourself the next time you are served in a restaurant. What do you notice first thing?  What is the second thing you notice?   Look into the other sensory perceptions you have.

            Appearance of the food has more to do with the presentation.  The dish should look appetizing and appealing.   It should look neat.  The ingredients and dishes should be distinguishable and identifiable.  Color is an important part of appeal.  Of course color has to do with what is being served.  Green beans should be green and not overcooked to a brown state.  Do the colors complement the overall dish?

            Aroma should also be inviting and mouthwatering.   Sometimes this is the first sense to be activated with food.  Freshness of the food and the degree of doneness can be determined by smell.  If the ingredients have soured or fermented, we can smell it.  If the food is overcooked or burned, we can smell it.

            Taste is the most important sense of food.  We have five basic flavors, sweet, salty, sour, bitter, and umami.  Umami is a relatively new flavor of savory as in soy sauce.  Flavor is usually a combination of these flavors that come together in a particular way to give the food its unique individual flavor.  It is so interesting the each person has individual preference and dislikes in food. Try to keep this in mind when evaluating food.  Your preferences and the chef’s may not be the same, just as when you are chef, your preferences may not be the same as your guests. 

Texture comes into play with chewing the food.  The doneness of the food, the tenderness of meats, and the temperature of the food all have a texture in your mouth.  All this contributes to the enjoyment of the meal.  Occasionally a particular food can be associated with an unpleased texture.  

 

 Beyond the senses

 

            There are other parts of evaluation that are not necessarily senses related, although the senses are used to make these kinds of judgments.  Look at the ingredients, are they fresh?  Were they prepared properly? Look at the treatment of the ingredients are they highlighted in the dish?  Do the ingredients add to the enjoyment of the dish?

            Is the cooking method correct for the dish?  Sometimes this can be surprising, but it should make the dish appealing and enjoyable.  Sometimes the unexpected can be pleasing, but sometimes it is not.  Look at the technique used in the dish.  Does it add to the appeal of the dish?

 

Balance

            Often acidity is needed to balance the dish.  Acidic condiments, like lemon juice or vinegar, are often used with fish.  Sometimes sweetness needs to be set off with salty or acidic component.  This has to do with the balance of the dish.  Long with balance of flavors is the balance of the components of the plate.  Do the vegetables go with the meat?  Do they complement the focus of the plate?

           

How to evaluate

            When evaluating food, have standard in mind.  What is a perfectly cooked salmon fillet? Have a standard in mind, but be opened to changes that may improve the dish.  The dish does not need to fit your standard, but the standard is a starting point, a reference point.

            Think about what is on the plate.  Does it appear fresh and is the quality of the ingredients good?  What can be improved and how?

            Do a sensory evaluation.  How does it look and smell?  Taste it.  How is the flavor?  Does it lack something and if so what?  Is the texture correct and appealing?  If it is unappealing, why and what should have been done differently?

            Look beyond the senses.  Are the ingredients fresh?  Were the cooking techniques correct?  Are the components on the plated balanced and complement each other?

            Evaluation sheets are often used in cooking competitions.  There are many online.  If you think you need a little help with evaluation, you may what to check some out online.

 

 

 

This Week’s Challenge – Evaluating

 

            Over the coming month evaluate the meals you have cooked. Evaluate for both sensory and non-sensory standards.  Think about what can improve your recipes and make notes on the recipe.  Record your findings in your journal.

 

Tip for this Week – Presentation

 

            Presentation is the main point of appeal.  Every item on the plate should be identifiable.  The plate should be clean and free of spills, slops and over flowing sauce.  Portions should be in proportion to the rest of the dishes on the plate.  I personally rather have smaller portions on the plate with enough in reserve if someone asks for more.

            This can be where color comes into play.   There needs to be a variety of color on the plate.  Color can be added in a garnish, but everything on the plate should be edible.  Blanching vegetables can bring out a vibrant color.  But it can be more fun cooking vegetables that are unusual colors, like orange cauliflower, purple green beans, or white asparagus.  Color does not need to scientific with color palates and contrasts, but it should be interesting and appealing.

           

 

This Week in Punkin’s Kitchen

           

            Easy Family Chili

Turkey Chili

 

1 lb.     Ground meat, I like to use ground turkey

1 T       Oil

¼ C     Onion, chopped

One    Garlic clove, crushed

1 T       Chili power

2 t        Cumin, ground

1 can  Tomatoes, diced or crushed

1 can  diced Ortega green chilies

¼ C     Corn, this can be leftover

1 can  Beans, chili, pinto, kidney or black

            Grated cheddar cheese

 

The ingredients

1.    In a larger skillet add the oil and heat while the onion is chopped.

 

 

When the vegetable begin to soften,
add the ground meat.  I used ground
turkey this time.

Chopped onion and I added chopped
red and green bell peppers.

 

 

2.    Add the onion and cook until it begins to soften.

3.    Add the ground meat and cook until browned.

 

 

Cook and stir until the is no
 pink in the meat.

Add the tomatoes, chilies, and garlic.

 



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

4.    Add the crushed or minced garlic clove, the spices, tomatoes and green chilies.  Cook about 20 minutes. Add a little water if need.




 

 

Add the seasonings.

Simmer for twenty minutes adding
water if it gets too thick.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

5.    Add the corn and beans.  Heat thoroughly.

 

 

Beans and corn added.  Be creative and
tr different kinds of beans and vegetables like
fresh chilies and peppers

Continue to simmer and heat until warm and
bubbly.  It can be thicken with a little masa or
continue to simmer until the desired thickness.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

6.    Serve with grated cheese and cornbread.

 

 

            Three Ingredient Soup

 

This is a quick meal made from left overs.  It does not take much to make.  I often make this after a busy day at work and I want a warm meal.

 

Three Ingredient Sou

One can         Broth of choice

                        Meat of choice, fully cooked

                        Vegetable of choice

                        Starch of choice.

 

I used leftover chicken, Rizoni pasta and fresh spinach.

 

1.    Look at the leftovers in the refrigerator and pull out some cooked meat, vegetables and starch, like potatoes, rice or pasta.

2.    Open a can of broth and added to a small sauce pan.  Place it on medium heat.

Choose a broth that matched the meat.
Determine which ingredients need the most cooking
and add them in that order,
 

 

3.    Dice the meat and add it to the broth.

4.    The vegetable can be leftovers or fresh.  If you have no leftover vegetables, chop a carrot or celery stalk and add it to the broth.

5.    The starch can also be leftover or fresh.  Dice a potato and add it to the broth or add some raw rice or small pasta.

The rizoni needed to cook the longest so it was added first.
 

 

6.    Cook until the ingredients are cooked or just heated through if you used leftovers. 

Next the chicken was added.  I used leftover
baked chicken with the Caribbean Curry powder.
Since the chicken was well seasoned, I didn;t need
to add more seasoning

 

7.    Be creative with the seasonings, however if leftovers are used, there will be some seasoning in the soup.  Taste, adjust, and taste again.

when the rizoni was cooked I added a handful
of fresh spinach.  The soup was done one the spinach
cooked in a few minutes

 

8.    This makes one or two servings.

9.    Serve with bread, crostini or a toasted cheese sandwich.

 

Variations:  Any combination of the ingredients can be used, like no meat vegetable and starch or meat and two vegetables.  For example: Leftover chicken breast, leftover steamed green beans and celery.  It will never come out the same.

 

Vegetable of the Week

 

            This time of year most people are looking to get healthy with changes in diet and increase in exercise.  New this month will be Vegetable of the week.  I love vegetables and I love to be creative with common vegetables.  This week is oven roasted asparagus.  Most vegetables can be roasted in the oven.  It gives the vegetable a smoky, grilled appearance, fragrant and texture. For the most part these recipes will be in pictures.

 

Oven Roasted Asparagus

The ingredients

 

1-2 lb. Fresh asparagus, cleaned and trimmed

            Olive oil

Garlic powder

Salt and pepper to taste

 

1.    Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

2.    Line a baking sheet with foil and spray with pam.

 

Foil lined baking sheet
sprinkled with oil.

Asparagus arranged on the baking
sheet so the do not overlap.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

3.   Sprinkle the pan with a little olive oil and arrange the asparagus so that they do not overlap.

 



Sprinkle the asparagus with oil and season.



 

4.    Sprinkle the asparagus with a little more oil and season with the garlic powder and freshly ground salt and pepper.

5.    Place in the hot oven for about 20 minutes.  Watch it carefully.  Time may vary due to the thickness of the asparagus.  I like a little char, but not much.

The oven roasted asparagus

Try this method of cooking vegetables with different vegetables.  Root vegetable do vey well with this method.  Try Brussel sprouts, squash and even tomatoes, and mushrooms.

 

 

Happy Cooking.