I’ve been known to exhibit somewhat particular behaviour when it comes to creating the perfect bite.
I love to cram a delicious little bit of everything onto my fork so that I can experience a perfect explosion of flavours in every single mouthful. It’s something I don’t even think about; but something others tend to notice in me if we spend enough time together.
When I eat curry I want not only the sauce and vegetables or meat on my naan bread, but I want some rice and some of that raita too please.
When eating lovage, lettuce, pea and cucumber soup I added a dollop of plain Greek yoghurt and loved taking spoonfuls from where the yoghurt had not yet seeped and then generous spoonfuls from the yoghurt-territory for a creamy, rich follow up mouthful.
That chargrilled asparagus with roasted cherry tomatoes and haloumi that’s becoming so popular on this site? In my mind, it is perfection because I carefully fork a roasted cherry tomato into a spear of asparagus and then capture some perfectly dressed greens above a base of haloumi: and there’s my perfect bite.
Sweetcorn fritters stand alone in their flavourful little disc-like selves but how much better do they taste with a spoonful of sour cream, crispy bacon, creamy avocado slices, farmer’s cheese, and soft, runny poached eggs? So.much.better.
Of course, you might be thinking, this is simply flavour combining but I think of it as both more than that and less. More because it’s about mindfully eating a meal or dish and really thinking about why these different flavours and textures are so enjoyable together: how they feel in my mouth; how they look on my fork; how they taste. Less because doing this is instinctive to me.
I’m aware that I noticed my Mum do this growing up; perhaps that’s why I do it too. She would spend serious time at dinner fitting every last pea onto a fork with a bite of crisp banger and some creamy mash that’s been swooshed through the last of her gravy.
It’s how I eat and apparently how I learned to eat. How about you?
