Culinary Blog: Sensory Evaluation
The sensory evaluation blog that I have created is a crepe which one can also find from the CrepeTO store, located in downtown Toronto. In this blog, I will be analyzing this food in the various categories of the five basic tastes, the five basic senses, familiar tastes, uniqueness, and experience.
Evaluation:
· The five basic tastes were appealed to because throughout each bite, the taste transitions into a new one which demonstrates a distinctive taste.
· At first, there was mild saltiness, and it was not sweet until the bottom was eaten.
· Most times the saltiness was due to the olives that were used in the dish.
· It was very savory, not overpowering but mild as it is continually eaten the flavors burst and expanded.
· Also, there was a small amount of bitterness and sourness within the fruits of lemon and lime.
Observation:
· First, with a sense of taste, I observe an under overpowering savor that is desirable and appropriate, the combination of ingredients are ideally enjoyable.
· With my sense of smell, I mainly smelt the rawness of salmon, but as I took a deeper inhale I could detect that there were scents of the fruit of lemon and lime which blended in nicely with the salmon.
· As for my sight, I was able to perceive that it was pleasing to the eyes, the meal appealed satisfying, interesting, and enjoyable to my eyes due to the attractive colors (such as with the black olives, peachy salmon, green lettuce, which contrast each other subtly colors).
· For my hearing, I was expecting a crunchy sound from chewing, but it was a soft and smooth sound.
· Lastly, my sense of touch helped me observe that the crepe was as soft and smooth as a dough.
To me, I sensed a floury, yet sweet taste as if the crepe was like a waffle. Also, the salmon had a similar taste that reminded me of sushi. Another relative flavor I detected was the lemon and lime zest which made me recall a zesty fruit salad.
I believe the crepe is unique, because it changed my expectations of it being a normal type of thin pancake, by bursting my senses with its flavors. There is also a unique and unusual blend of smooth with chunky, such as the smooth lettuce with the chunks of fruits and salmon. Also, I find it unique how it can be eaten as an appetizer, dessert, or main course.
Reflection:
I learned that my palate is unique, receptive, and open to new combinations of foods, and enjoys when ingredients are blended appropriately. Also, I learned that my palate is very sensitive to the tiniest sense of taste.
Yes, I did enjoy this food because of its distinctive tastes, I especially enjoyed the fruity combination, like the lemony-lime zest that had a resonant after taste. Moreover, the display is a quite captivating outlook of eating the food, because I had to hold it as if I was holding an ice-cream cone, which gave an interest to the food’s display.
Honestly, I would like to eat it again because I don’t get to eat it every day and I can’t seem to find it at certain places that in my near location, because the way how it’s made creates a unique impression that it is a one of a kind dish.
I think the certain flavors that I found more appealing are the saltiness of the olives, the savouriness of the salmon, and the zesty fruits of lemon and limes. The certain flavor that I found less appealing are the vegetables, primarily the lettuce, even though it provided refreshments, I thought it was plain.
I believe this experience changes how I will taste, analyze, and use foods in my cooking because the experience allowed me to view taste as more of a mystery. I will view taste as a mystery now because, when I eat something I will not know the true flavor until I process and take my time with it, thus now I will try not to eat fast at once. Also, it helps me analyze and see that there doesn’t need to be an isolated main flavor, but there can be multiple flavors that can be combined appropriately together. For my cooking, this shows me that you can cook food in different ways where you can change it up and food isn’t just about making one component be cooked well, it’s making more than one ingredient be cooked and blended well with others.