The Unprejudiced Palate by Angelo M. Pellegrini

Author:Angelo M. Pellegrini [Pellegrini, Angelo]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-0-307-78676-0
Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
Published: 2011-02-15T16:00:00+00:00

II

About ten years ago I prepared a dinner which consisted in part of broiled pork steak and turnip greens. Neither the occasion nor the food was in any way unusual, and I had completely forgotten both. Within the past six weeks, by some odd coincidence, I have been reminded of that dinner by three friends who had shared it with me. What made them remember the affair was the turnip greens. Dining the conversation I recalled that they had enjoyed them without reservation and that I had given them the rather simple recipe. When I asked them how many times they had had them since, each confessed that he had never eaten them again. And would I prepare the dish for them sometime soon?

Of course I would! But I wanted to know why, in ten years, no one of them had made the effort to cook the greens and thus satisfy a fondness for them that I knew to be genuine. The explanation they gave for such criminal negligence was not the whole truth. They insisted that they knew their limitations and so could never hope to duplicate my efforts. That was a lie; for I knew them to be resourceful and intelligent. Had they so willed, they could have so perfected the simple recipe in ten years of experimentation as to put me to shame. They also observed—and in this they were largely right—that turnip greens are not frequently found at the market.

The real reason, however, they did not mention; for very likely they were unaware of it. The truth is that they are not true gourmets. Their interest in food is superficial and inchoate; it is not ingrained in a clear realization of the significance of food and drink in the good life. They are sufficiently urbane and metropolitan to enjoy heartily a good dinner when it is served to them, but their gastronomic self has remained immature out of sheer neglect.

The enjoyment of distinguished cookery is not instinctive. Hunger is too easily satisfied by wholesome and indifferent fare, and so one accustomed to macaroni salad is under no particular temptation to rise above it unless he sets out to discover intelligently a source of joy to which he has never been exposed. The taste for much that is excellent in cuisine must be discovered and cultivated, as much so as one’s taste in the arts is a matter of discovery and esthetic self-development. The difference between a gourmet and one who eats macaroni salad is precisely the difference between one who enjoys turnip greens and will bestir himself to satisfy his desire, and one who enjoys them but will do nothing about it.

Whoever is interested in the improvement of his cookery as a permanent achievement, as opposed to an occasional culinary splurge, must be ready to submit to the proper discipline. He must be ready to grub among his fellows and in the cookery books for culinary ideas. It is not difficult to get information, for people who cook well almost invariably like to talk about their methods.

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