SECRET INGREDIENTS

SECRET INGREDIENTS

I really enjoyed reading the stories in Secret Ingredients very much because I enjoy cooking and I could relate with so many issues relating to cooking and food specificity. I appreciated the idea a secret ingredient, in Secret Ingredients. It is interesting for me to learn that it is almost a universal thing that certain cooks who are experts at cooking a specific dish will always withhold their “secret ingredient” or whatever it is that makes their dish more delicious and appetizing. When I was learning how to cook, I thought the secret lay in the method, and the procedure and order in which you add and mix ingredients. However, I came to find out that there are different ways of cooking the same meal, which can change the taste and presentation significantly, and each cook has some ingredients that they use to make their cooking exceptional and better than other cooks. Whenever I taste a really delicious meal i always want to try preparing it myself, but it never tastes as good and I wonder if every cook has some secret ingredient of some sort or whether it is just the method used in cooking the food I really.

The same theme of food specificity and a secret ingredient also runs through the short story My magic Bagel by Calvin Trillin. Here it is a specific bagel that is sought after because of its unique taste and different way in which it was baked. I have never really experienced a situation where I eat a certain food once and try to look for it again to find the exact same one. However, I have seen it through friends and TV. As I was reading this, what came to mind was an interesting episode I watched on How I Met Your Mother. This guy Marshall sets out to find the burger he ate the first time he is was in New York, which he calls the “best burger in New York.” I thought this episode was so interesting because it covers the other issues relating food that we have covered in class so far. Like relating a specific food to a specific emotion, situation and location. I will be posting a scene on my blog soon so you can see what I mean.

The there story I really enjoyed was A RAT IN MY SOUP by Peter Hessler. I think I liked it because I have eaten a rat before. Actually, I have hunted, killed, cooked and eaten a rat before and I know about three different ways of cooking it but I understand that some of my readers maybe disgusted with that, so il spare you the details. Basically, what I appreciated about this piece like the others is the idea of food in a specific location. Reading the narrator’ reactions and thoughts as he sampled the different Chinese foods was interesting. I also like his perspective on the importance of these foods for the Chinese and their culture and beliefs.