Great Food is Simple Food

When it comes to food I have been a fan of cooking, and most definitely a fan of eating, for as long as I can remember. I used to think great food is food that is complicated and eccentrically flavored with multiple layers of seasoning. The thing I learned later on in life is that great food is simple food with passion behind it. Something that the chef deeply cares for and puts very strong emotion behind. A great chef will take ingredients and focus on flavor, texture, and the over all consistency of the food they prepare.

Any great chef knows that when you've got fresh ingredients that are of top-grade quality, the ingredients should be kept as close to their original state as possible. Any processed foods will degrade the value of the food you are preparing. Not only is this much more healthy to keep processed foods out of the equation, but it will taste a lot more fresh. Using this mentality can also help in the factor of creating simple dishes - Processed foods are hardly ever simple, they are complicated and made by scientific procedures that require "rocket scientists" to manufacture.

Simple food is a concept that takes a few flavors that magnify each other to the point that anything else with it would ruin it. Cheesecake with strawberries, spaghetti with meatballs, a grilled cheese sandwich, or even steak and potatoes. These are some of the most popular foods of all time and for good reason - When prepared correctly they are absolutely delicious, you can remember their name, they can satisfy just about anyone (if not everyone), and, most importantly, they are basic.

When you go to an up-scale restaurant, if you look at what they have to offer, most of the time their selections will be limited. They base their food upon the season and what can be grown locally rather than importing from a foreign country. Mind you, not all "fancy" restaurants do this, but the ones that are notably known for fresh, quality food have no other choice. The thing up-scale restaurants do is take simple, limited things of great quality and present them like they are complicated and eccentric. There is no doubt that using highly detailed descriptions to make your mouth salivate is a great way to get someone to buy something from you. For anyone who loves great food and will settle for nothing less, the quality alone is worth the cost of the dish. However, for the people who like eating at expensive restaurants but have a palate comparable to a horse, they will need a little motivation for their purchase. They do this to make it seem as though their food really is worth the money they charge for it - A simple business tactic.

One of my favorite dishes of all time is linguine with arrabbiata sauce. This dish has a flavor and texture you would not believe. Add in roasted garlic cloves, diced red onions, and pine nuts and you've got yourself a beast of a dish. All of the flavors highly magnify each other to the point that it is no less than perfect. It sounds complicated but when it arrives on the table you see how extremely basic it is. There really is nothing to it except the combination of five things that massively compliment each other in flavor.

Always remember that the most important thing, when preparing food, is that you have a passion for the food you are cooking and are motivated to make your dish taste great. I have had a basic hamburger from a passionate chef that tasted worlds better than a filet mignon received from a sub-par restaurant featuring cooks who were only interested in the paycheck. If you are a struggling chef/cook, or someone interested in learning more about culinary arts, keep the above things mentioned above in mind as you think of and execute dishes to prepare. It will make a world of difference and you will have people lining up to eat your food.