31 January- Final Cooking!



Today was the last cooking day of the class. The other team did a great job cooking Southern Comfort food. The menu included: fried chicken, mashed potatoes, macaroni and cheese, sweet potato casserole, green beans, buttermilk biscuts, peach cobbler, and sweet tea.  The mashed potatoes and peach cobbler were my favorite. The other foods were good, but I guess I am used to how my mother and grandma cook southern food, so it was different to see others ways it can be prepared. Overall I believe the team of cooks did a great job preparing a real southern meal.

30 January- Taste Test #12

Today was Vintage chocolate tasting day. We have done something similar with Cheddar Cheese, in order to determine how age affects the taste. The chocolate we sampled were: 2010 Gran Couva Trinidad (noon), 2009 Palmira Criollo Venezuela (3 o'clock), 2010 Palmira Criollo Venezuela (6 o'clock), and 2011 Gran Couva Trinidad (9 o'clock). I enjoyed the younger of the two chocolates. The older chocolates had a stronger aroma, but for some reason they lacked the intial bite of coco that I like in my chocolate. So, in my opinion, the fresher the chocolate the better. The bonus chocolate today was Vosges 62% Bacon chocolate, which I have seen in the Fresh market, but the taste was not what I was expecting. I was expecting the bacon to add a savoriness to the chocolate, like meat usually does to a dish. However, the chocolate just tasted over salty, but some people in the class really enjoyed it. I guess it once again comes down to individual taste.

The next part of the class was devoted to Vanilla tasting. I learned so much about vanilla extract, like: it comes from the bean of an orchid plant that is pollinated by humans, it is the second most expensive spice in the world behind safranin, and extract is made from soaking vanilla beans in alcohol. We tasted the four types of vanilla mixed in creme anglaise. The four we sampled" Tahitan, Mexican, homemade Madagascar, and Spice House Madagascar. The homemade was my favorite because it was the mildest. The Tahitan had a fruity, floral taste. The Mexican didn't taste like regular vanilla, it had a strong cinammony taste to me, and the store bough Madagascare was very similar to the homemade but more pungent.

27 January- Taste Test #11

Today was the Best of Varitels chocolate day. All of the samples were a sub-type of Criollo chocolate, and they were absolutely wonderful! The brand was Amedei and the different sub-types were Porcelana 70%, Chuao 70%, and "9" 75%. The Porcelana was definitely my favorite. It was smooth with a nice almond, nutty flavor. However, even though it was my favorite it was also the most expensive of the three, of course. The Chuao was not a creamy and smooth as the Porcelana, and it lacked the nutty flavor but had a slight fruitiness to it. The "9" chocolate was surprisingly the mildest of the three and had the least flavor to me. The brand of Amedei chocolate is roughly $100/lb. That is a crazy thought when you think about a $1 for a Hershey's bar, but after being given the opportunity to taste all these exquisite chocolates I completely understand someone splurging a little on a high quality dark chocolate like the Amedei. I think I may have found a new favorite!
Also with today's chocolate tasing we had a sample of chocolate covered expresso beans. I have had chocolate coffee beans before, but they were not this good of quality. I actually saved a few and took them to my mother, who is a bigger coffee than me, and she loved them! The brand of the beans was Santander chocolate. To say the least I was very expressed at how well they tasted.


Next, was student presentations. The first was the Wild Game presentation by Gaston and Josh, and they we able to provide us with samples of the wild game meat they discussed in their presentation. In the photo, the top left is the rabbit meat, the top right is the venison (deer) meat, and the big piece in the middle was duck meat. The bottom two are normal chicken and beef steak, so we could compare the wild game to what you buy in the grocery store.  I really enjoyed the venison. It was flavorful and tender. I also like the deer meat because it is very lean with very little fat. The rabbit meat was also very good. It was a little dry, but I enjoyed the gamey taste it had. On the otherhand, the duck meat had a very pungent gamey taste and a weird, spongy texture. I was really impressed with the wild game meat.

Today was also the last day of cheese, and we ended with wash rind cheeses. The four kinds tasted were: Talegio, Morbier Raw Milk, and Chimay. The Chimay had a sour, beer-like after taste and had a very stinky cheese aroma. The Talegio is white colored and taste mild like butter. I didn't particularly like the rind wash cheeses. I don't like the stinky cheeses. However, this class has taught me to appreciate them more.

26 January- Cooking #5

Today was my team's last actual day of cooking. We will be coming text Tuesday, but only to taste the Southern Cooking team's lunch. So Wednesday in class we were finally able to agree upon a more balanced menu after Dr. Sloan pointed out some of our weak spots. We took away one of our chicken dishes and replaced it with a rice dish and cucumber salad.

Aften and I volunteered for the bread because we had made the biscuts last time so we thought we could handle the Naan bread. However, after going to the store and coming back to our apartment to bake we realized just how different the Indian bread was from the buttermilk biscuts. The recipe itself was lacking a lot of descriptions. Because the yeast needed to rise for four full hours we baked the bread in our apartment the night before. We had to set the thermostat to 80 degrees in order to make it warm enough to allow the yeast to rise. So we sweated it out for this bread, but when we started to take it out of the oven we knew something was wrong with it. I have never eaten naan before, but the pictures online reminded me of pita bread. And as you can tell from the top picture, our product did not look like pita. We still wrapped it up and took it this morning to show Dr. Sloan and Dr. Nowatka. Dr. Sloan saved the day because he had bought the ingredients for a different recipe that only called for the yeast to rise for one hour. We were given the option to try Naan bread again or just scrap it from the menu, but we were determined to get this bread righ so we did it again and the product is in the picture believe. Aften and I received many compliments from Dr. Dunlap, so I believe it was a success the second try. The rest of our team cooked Chicken Korma which was delicious but I would have liked it a little spicier. Aloo gobi, which was a spicy potato and califlower dish that I got two helpings of it was so yummy. Cucumber salad, which balanced out the spicy meal with it's coolness. The Indian rice that was perefect with the Chicken Korma. Mango Lassi, which was the mango dessert smoothie that I also loved! Overall, this was my favorite meal because it seemed the most like a complete meal. Every dish really complimented the others. I definitely will try to cook Indian cuisine more often after this good experience today.

25 January- Taste Test #10

Today was a great chocolate tasting day because it was all the El Rey brand. The different samples are above in the photo: Bucare 58.5% (top), Mijao 61% (middle), and Gran Saman 70% (bottom). The Bucare was very milky and smooth with no coco bitterness. The Mijao was similar to the Bucare but had a little bit of a nice nutty taste added. Also, the Gran Saman had a woody, coco flavor and was slightly more astrigent than the other two. My favorite was actually my favorite, which is surprising because three weeks ago I probably would've picked the lowest percentage chocolate just because. Now I can actually distinguish the subtle taste differences,

The cheese for today was Bleu cheese. I believe Dr. Sloan and Dr. Nowatka planned that the best chocolate tasting be paired with the worst cheese tasting, just to balance them out. Dr. Sloan showed us a video of how bleu cheese is produced and after watching the video I was able to appreciate all the hard work that goes into it, but I was not able to appreciate the distinct bleu cheese taste. We tasted four different bleu cheese types: Valdeon, Stilton, American, and Cambozola. Of the four the Cambozola was the least of the evils. I enjoyed it the most because it reminded me of the double-cream cheeses we tasted. However, I don't believe I will be purchasing bleu cheese in the future. The Valdeon to me had the strongest flavor. It was crumbly and tasted too musky. The American was the milder one that was white in appearance with blue veins of mold. The Stilton, which has won many awards, was the kind of in between the Stilton and the American when it come to flavor intensity. The Stilton had a more yellowish appearance and was more salty than the others. I apologize for my picture. For some reason the lighting was bad when I tried to take the picture.

24 January- Cooking #4

Today was the "Cooking with Eggs" day for Team B, and I couldn't have been more excited. I am a fan of eggs and when Dr. Sloan revealed part of the menu in class the other day I knew I was going to really enjoy this cooking day!

Aften and I were assigned to make homemade Buttermilk biscuts. At first I was a little intimidated because I have seen my grandmother make homemade biscuts plenty of times growing up and it didn't look like a simple task. However, after reading through recipe Aften and I readily took on the challenge and in my opinion succeeded! Everyone told us after how nice and fluffy the biscuts had turned out. Below is a picture of Aften kneading the bread, which has to be the hardest/funnest part!

We tweaked the recipe we used to give it a little more clarity.

For 12 buttermilk biscuits, you will need:
1 stick unsalted butter
4 tablespoons vegetable shortening
3 cups all purpose flour
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/4 cups buttermilk

1. Cut or grate butter and shortening into 1/2 inch pieces. Refrigerate until chilled.
2. Heat oven to 450 degrees. Line baking sheet with parchment paper.
3. In a food processor, pulse flour, sugar baking powder, salt, and baking soda until well combined.
4. Add chilled butter and shortening to flour mixture until it resembles coarse meal.
5. Transfer mixture to large bowl. Add buttermilk until well combined.
6. Place dough on lightly floured and knead for 8 to 10 minutes.
7. Roll dough into a cohesive 9 inch circle and 3/4 inch thick.
8. Cut biscuits using a 2 1/2 inch biscuit cutter.
9. Arrange on a baking sheet upside down.
10. Bake biscuits until they begin to rise, about 5 minutes.
11. Rotate pan and reduce oven temperature to 400 degrees.
12. Bake until golden brown, 10 to 12 minutes.
13. Transfer to wire rack and allow to cool for 5 minutes.

Then, ta-da! Homemade Buttermilk Biscuts!

23 January- Taste Test #9

Today's taste testing was interesting. We began with a normal chocolate taste testing, including: Caracas (Trinitario), Venezuela (Trinitario), Madagascar (Criollo), and Indonesia (Criollo). All of the chocolate samples were 75% coco, but I was able to make distinction between the four we tested. The first, Caracas, was mild and pretty plain in my opinion for a dark chocolate. The Venezuela chocolate was bitter and had a somewhat liquorice taste. The Madagascar was light, with a fruity/acidic taste, and finally the Indonesia had an earthy/woody taste. This taste testing proved to me that the location of where the coco bean is grown does have a significant impact on the taste of  the final product that we sampled today. Overall, my favorite was the Madagascar. I was excited that me and Aften were able to snag the leftover Madagascar samples. I enjoyed it. However, the mystery chocolate for today was not enjoyable. It was 100% chocolate with coco nibs. I don't understand how a company somewhere makes any profit on this. It was the most bitter thing I believe I have ever eaten!

The next taste testing was the interesting part for today's class. After our usual chocolates we tasted olive oil, yes olive oil! At first I thought it was going to be unbearably gross, but using the bread to dip in the samples of the four oils made it actually taste good. The oil on the far left of the photo is Badia a Coltibuone. To me it had a strong peppery taste. The next one in the photo is the Masseriei di Sant'erame, and to me it tasted distinctly leafy. The third in the photo is Bertolli, which is the only one I have tasted before today. The Bertoli had a floral and familiar taste that I foud the most desirable of the four samples. The final bottle on the far right is the L'Estornell, which for me was too mild. It didn't have much of an 'olivey' taste compared to the other three. Following the olive oil tasting we did a tasting of olives. I have never been a fan of olives. It is usually just one of those toppings I have always just picked off the top of my slice of pizza because they make it taste funny. So just bringing myself to try all five of the olive samples itself was a feat. For me the olives unfortunately all had the same extremely salty, olivey taste. However, the distinctions I did taste were the black olives were milder and more gentle on my palate than the green olives. The olives we tasted were: Kalamata, Ripe Black, Nicoise, Queen, and Manzanilla.

After we finished with the olives and oil, we finished with a cheese tasting, but this just wasn't any cheese tasting. It was the cheese tasting that the majority of the class has been anticipating, Cheddar day! We sampled four different cheddars: 3 months aged, 6 months, 2 years, and 3 years aged. Personally, I enjoyed the youngest aged cheddar cheese called Boar's Head. I formed my opinion before Dr. Sloan revealed the age of each sample so I don't believe it was biased. However, I find it funny that the older cheddar is the more expensive it is. Once again, I like the cheap stuff better!

20 January- Taste Test #8

Today was yet another dark chocolate tasting in class. The brand was Santander and from a single origin, Colombia. The different percentages were 53%, 65%, and 70%. My favorite was defintely the 60%. I have learned to appreciate the true taste chocolate instead of just it's sweetness. Sweeter isn't always better now. The 53% had a strong vanilla taste, and the 70% was too rich for my taste. However,  the 60% was very good and had a nice nutty taste. These chocolate tastings have taught me that maybe % isn't the most important factor in chocolate.

Next, was the vinegar tasting, which I enjoyed because I love sour tasting foods. The lightest color vinegar is the Apple Cider, which was my least favorite becuase of it's strong sourness. The middle, darkest color vinegar is Basalmic was sweet and tangy. The red wime vinegar was fruity and very light. I liked all three because of the sour tangy taste.

The three cheeses was Parmesan, Pecorino, and Myzithra. I wasn't a fan of any of them. They were all too hard for my liking. When I was tasting the samples I kept thinking that the cheese was stale and old. The Parmesan was too tangy, The Pecorino was very musky, and the Myzithra tasted like chalk. Overall I didn't like the cheese's for today. Hopefully, next week's cheeses are better.

19 January- Cooking #3

Today was great! We had our third adventure in the kitchen, and I believe overall it was a success. It was finally Team B's turn to prove ourselves by cooking with cheese. Our menu included: Four Cheese Lasanga, Parmesan Eggplant, Dijon Mustand Salad with goat cheese, cheese buns, and tiramisu. Below is a picture of the meal complete. Aften and I are pictured with our salad. We were very proud of our hardwork. Honestly, when we found out we were doing the salad we thought we would be bored, but the recipe was way more extensive than we had thought. The lesson I learned from this experience is to read thoroughly through a recipe before you begin cooking. This has all been a learning experience so far and cooking is not as hard as I thought it was going to be. I look forward to more lessons in the kitchen!

18 January- Taste Test #7

Today was Pralus, double-wrapped, chocolate day. The four samples included: 75% Bresil (Frosterio), 75% Chuao (Criollo), 80% Fortissma (Criollo/Trinitario), and 75% Colombie (Trinitario).  Bresil was good but had a sour after taste. Chuao had a strong aroma and an over-whelming coco flavor. Fortissma was not my favorite. It was the least creamy and and too bitter. Colombie was my favorite. It was rich, creamy, and had a nice fruity aftertaste. All four of the chocolates were long on the palate and very aromatic.

Next, we did a tasting of salts. On the cucumbers we sampled: Black Diamond, Maldon, and Kavai Guava smoked. On the buttered bread we sampled: Moloka Red, Fleur de Sel, and Sel Gris.  I honestly could not tell differences in the salt, only subtle differences but not enough to describe. I feel like I don't have very sensitive 'salt' taste. Salty things just taste salty, that's it.  



Finally, we tasted cheese. The first was Asiago Fresco (top) which reminded me a lot of my typical cheddar. Borough Marveet Cheddar (right) was aged and had a strong aroma that I loved. The third cheese was Raciette Raw Milk (left) is according to Dr Sloan a good fondo cheese. It is soft and milky but not my favorite.



16 January- Taste Test #6

Today was Varietals (65%) chocolate day. The brand was E. Guitad and is an American brand. The types included:Ambanja, Chicuri, Sur del Lago, and Queredo. The Ambanja is made from Criollo bean and is the most rare. Yet, I found the taste astrigent, with a strong aroma. The chocolate itself came from Madagascar. In today's class we focused on how the location in which it is grown can influence the taste of the chocolate. The Chicuri is the middle of the three types of bean. I found it milder than the first but still very rich. The chocolate was grown in Colombia. The third chocolate was Queredo and is from the Forastero bean, which is grown in Ecuador. I enjoyed this chocolate and its nutty taste. The fourth chocolate is called Sur del Lago and is the blend from Criollo and Trinitario. It was definitely the sweetest of all the samples, but it lacked the smoothness of the others that I liked.

On Friday, we talked about how life experiences can influence individual tastes. Another part of tasting is genetics based. The class as a whole tasted PTC stripes to determine if we had the ability to taste the bitter chemical. I could definitely taste the chemical, and it was absolutely terrible. Aften was sitting right next to me and couldn't taste it all. It's crazy how much factors into individual differences in tasting palates. Fascinating.

Next we did Coffee! Yep, God's gift to college students. I am a huge fan of coffee and the tasting took me by surprise. I realize the limited time that we have for this class. I had my doubts if we would make it to coffee, but my prays were answered. The video on the Starbuck's taster was very interesting, and I learned a lot about the vocabulary used to describe the varying tastes of coffee. The three coffees we sampled were: Sumatra, which I thought had an earthy, bold taste; Guatemalan, which tasted spiced and very 'coffee-like'; and Kenya, which was sweet but slightly acidic. Of the three I would definitely choose a cup of Guatemalan.

Finally, we ended today's series of taste test with surface ripened cheeses. Today's samples kind of turned me off to cheese. Number 1 is Fromage de Chevre, which I found firm and salty. Number 2 is Fromage de Chevre le Chevrot, which was softer but tasted too acidic, and Number 3 is called Robiola but what they should of name it is stinky. I probably should of tried closing my nose while tasting it because the aroma just destroyed any potential of me liking the cheese. I can't say I will be shopping for any of these surface ripened cheeses in the fresh market, but the brie cheese on the otherhand...

13 January- Taste Test #5

Today was another Dark Chocolate tasting, and I surprisingly enjoyed the richer chocolates. They may have started to grow on me...oh no! Scharffen Berger was the brand of the chocolate. The three different samples were: 62%, 70%, and 82%. The 62% was wonderful. It was rich, a little sweet, and had only a slight bitter after taste. The 70% was definitely richer, but I enjoyed the strong coco aroma. The 82% was a little too rich for my palate. The bitter coco was just too much. The surprise chocolate was Antidote 77%. However, it was not normal chocolate. It was impregnanted with pieces of something. After, tasting it I was in shock. The taste was rich coco mixed with a sweet, spicy flavor. After watching all of our faces the professors revealed the pieces were of Banana and Cayenne. I wasn't the worst chocolate I have ever had, but it was definitely not on the best.

Next, Dr. Sloan went over the importance of time management in the kitchen. The day before team A went a little over on time in the kitchen. Being a professor of computer science he mentioned the use of a gnatt chart in the kitchen. We call it backwards planning in the Army. Basically try to have a 'hit time' when you want to serve your meal and using the recipes and bake time determine what time each dish needs to be put in the oven by. Next week we have Coach Young joining us so we need to be sure to be on time for his busy schedule.

Later, Dr. Nowatka presented a powerpoint on the pyschology of tasting foods. The main point I took from the information she shared with us, was our individual life experiences are what causes our brain to develop, including our taste perception. For examples. growing up my mom catered to me and my 'pickiness' with food. She would never make me eat what she was cooking, and that experience I believe caused me to be more hesistant to eat or taste new foods. The next part of the class including exploring some of the individual differences in the taste of Sweet. We samples four types of honey and three types of sugar. Talk about sweetness overload! The four honeys are in the picture here (top to bottom) Buckwheat, Wildflower, Orange Blossom, and Tupelo. Buckwheat was the darkest, and to me it tasted like molasses and smelled foul. The Wildflower tasted and smelled floral; it was light and very sweet. The orangeblossom was fruity in taste and lighter in sweetness. The Tupelo was over the top sweet and had a strange woody after taste. Overall, the Orange Blossom won my vote with its fruity, delicate sweetnees. The sugars (from top to bottom) were Dextrose, Fructose, and Sucrose. The sucrose is normal table suger and had the biggest crystals of the three. Dextrose was powdery and melted in my mouth. However, dextrose was the least sweetest of the three. The Fructose was somewhere in the middle of the other two for me. I learned from the tasting that sweetness is a human's primary taste and is hard-wired in us from birth.

Last, but certainly not least was Queso! Today was Double Cream cheeses. The two we sampled were Brie and Camembert. I loved both! The brie was creamy and had a good buttery taste. The other was smooth and had a smokey taste. I plan on having both again in the future.

12 January- Cooking #2

Thursday was our second cooking experience. However, due to kitchen space our class was divided into two cooking groups, team A and B. Today it was team A's turn to cook, and team B just took part in the tasting part. I am in team B so I was able to enjoy team A's hardwork. They did an amazing job! The theme of the meal was "Cooking with Chocolate." The recipes included:

1. Pear Vingeratte Salad with chocolate nibs
2. Baked Beans
3. Egg Plant
4. Flank Steak
5. Mole Chicken
6. Chocolate Coca-Cola Cake

I really enjoyed the flank steak, mole chicken, and coca-cola cake. The flank steak was tender and the chocolate rub was very rich and savory. Perfect! The mole chicken was also amazing. The complex sauce had a mixture of many different flavors that combined to make a great dish. Finally, the coca-cola cake was the most moist cake I have ever eaten. I will definitely be using that recipe in the future. Overall it was a wonderful meal. It definitely exceded my expectations of a meal "cooked with chocolate." Unfortunately, I was so excited to try all the different foods that I forgot to snap a picture.

11 January- Taste Test #4 and Food Photography

Wednesday was our fourth taste test, and it was all my favorite. White chocolate! Unfortunately, I came down with a stomach virus Tuesday night. So, I had neither an appetite or my normarl taste buds. The samples included: Green & Black organic, El Rey, Michel Cluizel, and Amedei. The Green & Black had a strong vanilla taste to me, while the El Rey tasted like milk chocolate. The Amedei was very light and didn't have a lot of flavor. I learned that white chocolate has a significantly shorter self-life than real chocolate because of what it is made of.

Next, we discussed food photography. Wofford's photographer Mark Olenki came and showed some photography he has done of food and explain some of the basics when it comes to making food look perfect in a picture. He said the biggest things are to control your ligt and know the limitations of your equipment. He also discussed some of the tricks of food photography, like: using motor oil for maple syrup, using shortening as ice cream, using Elmer's glue for milk, and using accrylic ice in photos. It seems amazing to me that a photographer would do so much for one photo of a dish, but then again a picture is worth a thousand words.

10 January- Cooking #1

Today was our first day in the kitchen, and I was so excited to finally begin baking. In the class we will be cooking in partners, which is very comforting. My good friend, Aften, and I decided to take the interim together, so I am thrilled we get to work together throughout the class.

So, for our first kitchen experience we experimented with different cookie recipes and compared the results. Below are the yummy results. The recipes that were chosen were: two types of chocolate chip, double chocolate chunk, regular sugar cookies, brown sugar cookies, snicker doodle, oatmel, peanut butter, and butter/jelly cookies. Aften and I baked the brown sugar cookies, and they were phenomonal! My other favorite was the crispy oatmel cookies. I have baked cookies a lot with my grandma, but the two tips I learned today were 1) to use parchment paper because it leaves practically no mess on the cookie sheet and 2) to use a dough scoop to make the perfectly shaped cookie balls. I am excited for the next cooking adventure!

9 January- Taste Test #3

Today was our third taste testing in class. We started off with four different Milk Chocolates. I was in Heaven! In order from top to bottom in the picture: Green and Black organic (34%), Michel Cluizel, El Rey, and Amedei. My favorite was definitely the El Rey. It was creamy, sweet, and just the perfection of what milk chocolate should taste like. The Green and Black reminded me of Cadberry eggs at Easter. It was creamy but richer than most milk chocolate. The Michel Cluizel had a pleasant nutty taste but wasn't as milky to me. The Amedei didn't really have a strong flavor. I would describe it has plain, milk chocolate. I have to say this is my favorite taste test so far.

Next, we did a blind soda test. We were each given three cups of soda and instructed to taste all three and determine which one was different. I honestly could not tell the difference. I tried three times tasting all three sodas and each time I seem to come up with a different answer. However, after the professor revealed the result it was easy to go back and taste the difference. The Pepsi was much sweeter. While the Coke was fizzer and had a sharped cola taste. This just goes to show you that brands shouldn't determine what type of something you purchase, buy the cheaper. 

We ended the class with a second chesse testing. It was again soft cheeses, which I am not a huge fan of. The three cheeses we sampled were: Feta, Goat, and Farmer's. The cheese was also served with lemon and honey. The lemon is used to bring out the acidty of the cheeses, and the sweet honey is used as a good contrasting taste for the cheese. My favorite of the three was by far the Farmer's cheese. The feta had a good taste, but the texture was not pleasant. The goat cheese was too sour and tangy for my liking. However, the Farmer's cheese was harder in texture and reminded me of simple cheddar cheese.

Tomorrow we finally start our cooking!

 

6 January- Taste Test #2

Today was the second day of class, and we began the class with another taste test. I am hoping the taste testing becomes a daily thing. However, this taste test was a little different from the first. We still had  chocolate, but there were three more variables to consider when tasting each sample. The chocolate we sampled was Scharffen Berger 41%  Milk and Scharffen Berger 70%  Dark. My preference was, of course, the milk because it was sweet and creamy versus the bitter and too-strong dark chocolate. The three additional variables that were added to the sampling were: breathing vs. non-breathing, heat vs. non-heat, and chew vs. melt-in-mouth. In my experince, I found that the breathing (unwrapped before served) milk chocolate and non-breathing (served wrapped) dark chocolate tasted better. Dr. Sloan said this was explainable because most individuals like their milk chocolate sweet and subtle so letting it breath before it is served allows some of the aroma to dissipate. While,  most people like there dark chocolate to be strong and flavorful so leaving it wrapped when served is the usually the desirable option. The other two variables did not have as strong as an impact on my tasting of the two types of chocolate. However, my preference was to have the sample unheated and chew it, rather than allow it to melt in my mouth. I am not sure the explanation for my preference, perhaps it's just my tendency to be impatient so I must chew it as soon as I put it in my mouth.

The second half of the class was devoted to covering some basics on the importance of sanitation while cooking. I had Microbiology this past semester so I am well aware of the risks not practicing good personal hygiene and poor food preparation can have on people. However, I was able to take a few things from the discussion including how long one should keep a sponge in their kitchen and how to safely organize a refirgerator in order to prevent food contamination.

In addition to tasting chocolate, we also did a taste test on soft/non-melting cheeses, including: Ricotta (store bought), Ricotta (homemade), Mascarpone, Fresh Mozzarella, and Neufchatel. The picture to the right is of the five different cheeses (in order listed above, clockwise). Overall my favorite was the mascarpone, but just like the first taste test, none of the samples resembled what I think of when I think of cheese. The fresh mozzarella had a wierd texture, but I would of liked it if it was cooked. The Mascarpone and Neufchatel were both creamy and reminded me of cream chesse, but the Neaufchatel had a sour after taste for me. The Ricotta was okay. I did prefer the homemade to the storebought, but I think I will just keep eating it in my lasanga and not by itself. I look forward to learning more about both cheeses and chocolate next week!

5 January- Introduction and Taste Test #1

Today was the first day of class and our introduction to taste testing. We tasted Ghiradelli 100% dark chocolate, 60%, and white chocolate. I am a huge fan of chocolate or really anything sweet, but today's initial tasting definitely influenced how I view chocolate. We began with discussing the process of how chocolate is developed. The chocolate originates from cacao pods, which are made up of sweet pulp and cacao beans. The sweet pulp is used to make coco butter. While, the bean is dried, roasted, and ground to make coco powder.

The 100% chocolate was all coco solids, and in my opinion it was incredibly bitter and didn't resemble any kind of chocolate I have ever experienced. The 60% dark chocolate had 40% added sugar and coco butter, so it was comparably better than the 100% and it did taste more like the "chocolate bars" I am accustom to. However, the 60% chocolate was not my top preference. The Ghiradeli white chocolate won my vote for the best of the three, even after the discovery that white chocolate isn't "real chocolate." Instead, it is simply the combination of sugar and fat (coco butter), but it's still the most appealing to me. I am excited for the upcoming tasting of different white chocolates but still not sold on the dark chocolates. I believe this interim is going to be a very informative and perhaps tasty experience!