Nick and I were talking last night about food – or rather, why some people refuse to eat vegetables. We know several people (mostly girls, interestingly) who will not touch “anything green.” I find this so very odd. But I can see how it could happen.
Look at the average American diet: high fat, high sugar, low flavour. It’s easy to understand why few Americans have a palate. When you eat crap food your whole life, you’ll naturally not want to push yourself past it. Why bother developing a palate when 90% of Americans are just like you: can’t tell the difference between basil and rosemary. Look at the American food industry. Show me a chain restaurant that offers anything other than bland, sweet, fatty foods. You can’t because they are all run by the industrial fast food mindset of getting food out of a can. And the sad part is that the typical American can’t even tell that their marinara sauce is out of a can vs made fresh. Hell, the typical “chef” can’t, either. I put chef in quotes because having a culinary degree does NOT mean that you know jack shit about food, flavours and quality. I am lucky to work with a Chef who I can talk food with all day long but chefs like that are few and far between. There are many good chefs here in Atlanta, so it seems that they are everywhere but trust me, they are not. Continue reading “Culinary Palate”