Have you ever listened to pie?
Sounds like a silly question, I know. But The New York Times recently ran an article on the importance of using all your senses to become a better cook. It’s an article that resonated with me, not because I listen to my food when I’m cooking—though who can miss the sizzle of onions and garlic in the pan?—but because I’m constantly telling parents that sensory education is the key to growing good tasters. Yes. If you want your children to expand their palates you have to move beyond asking them to taste new foods. Reluctant eaters often have to look, listen, smell and touch their food first. And, since July 4th is almost here, what better way to talk about sharpening your senses than to talk about pie???
Read To Become a Better Cook, Sharpen Your Senses.
Sizzle-whump is the sound a pie makes when it’s perfectly baked, says Kate McDermott, author of “Art of the Pie.”
“Sizzle is the sound of hot butter cooking the flour in the crust, melding it into a crips, golden lid. The whump is the sound of the thickened filling bumping against the top crust as it bubbles at a steady pace.”
McDermott calls the sizzle-whump the pie’s heartbeat. Doesn’t it make you want to bake a pie immediately so you can listen to it bake?
“Any experienced cook knows that there is much more to cooking than just taste. There is touch (taping the top of a pie to make sure it is completely firm), smell (inhaling the changing scents of the crust as it bakes), sound (listening to its heartbeat) and sight (watching for the juices to turn thick).”
Once you “turn on” your senses, it’s amazing how much is actually going on.
For instance:
“Many of the important cues in a kitchen have nothing to do with sight or taste: distinguishing the sound of a boil versus a simmer; knowing the feel of a rare steak versus a medium-well one; biting into pasta as it cooks to catch the brief, perfect moment between chewy and soft.”
If you want to know more about how to use sensory education to teach your kids to explore new foods…
Read Teach Your Way Out of a Picky Eating Problem with Sensory Education and consider purchasing a Super Food Explorer Kit.
~Changing the conversation from nutrition to habits.~
