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!