Flavor – How to season and cook to palates and preferences different than yours

flavorfood-scienceseasoning

Often times the dishes I am the most disappointed with end up being a hit with my family. It is almost as if our tastes contrast each other.

Given that, how can I cook something that appeases a palate which is not my own, and especially one that appreciates flavors and textures I do not like? A major part of cooking is adjusting things along the way according to a preference, and it is hard when whatever preference you are working with (your own) is not relevant (when cooking for others).

Best Answer

I have (nearly) no sense of taste and smell, and what sense I do have is heavily distorted. As a result, my senses are non-indicative of dish quality. Nearly every meal I cook is shared with at least one person, though, so I've had to adapt.

I iterate over the same recipe over and over varying the spice mixtures and ratios, and ask for comment every time. I write down said comments with the recipe, and then adjust from there. Usually my recipes stop evolving by the time I've written iteration #4-5 (less for newer recipes, as I can now "play" the flavors by ear).

When I'm cooking for people I don't see often, I use my well-rehearsed recipes. I also select foods where the cooking is more of a science, where it's hard to mess up the flavor, or where people take a self-seasoning approach (e.g. baking bread, grilling steak, baking potatoes).

Edit: Here's some simple spice trends from my personal recipes. These have been calibrated almost exclusively on Southern U.S. guests:

  • Mild Spanish Paprika (Pimentón) is great for grilling and pan-frying pork (along with the usual suspects like salt and pepper).
  • Add 1/person dried bay leaves (whole ones, not chopped or ground) and 1/person garlic cloves to your rice when cooking it. Remove them after cooking. Do the same for stews, and really anything that cooks in water (other than pasta and potatoes).
  • Add some granulated garlic (which is basically powdered garlic without the dust issues) to nearly everything. It's quick, mess-free, and I think most people (at least near me) harbor a terrible addiction for garlic. Use actual garlic when doing stews, sauces, or you just have the extra time to peel it.
  • Substitute bacon fat for butter when cooking things other than bread and pork. Only thing people are more addicted to than garlic would be bacon. Use both garlic and bacon fat when making mashed potatoes, watch them cry happy tears while they ask for additional helpings.
  • Instead of plain vegetable/frying oil, get a bottle of non-virgin olive oil and a bottle of peanut oil. After cooking with them a few times you'll get a feel for which is right for each dish (rule of thumb: higher temperatures means peanut).
  • I have yet to find a dish that wasn't improved by sprinkling some parsley on top at the very end. It adds color (specially to anything that doesn't have green otherwise), and everyone either loves it or is neutral to it.
Related Topic