The Art of Tasting: A Guide to Blinded Palate Testing

When it comes to cooking and trying new foods, our sense of taste can be deceiving. Often, we rely on familiar flavors and textures to guide us, but what if you could develop your palate and learn to identify subtle differences in ingredients? That's exactly what our friend is about to do with a blind taste test of pan sauces.

The first sauce up for testing is a red wine reduction, designed to complement a steak. As the sauce is poured into a glass, our friend takes a tentative sip. "Nice, nice, nice, nice," they respond, indicating that the initial flavor profile is acceptable. However, when asked about the level of buttery notes, their response is less enthusiastic. "A little accurate, not much," they say, suggesting that while there may be some butter present, it's not a dominant flavor component.

To further test the sauce, our friend is offered a second option, made with red wine vinegar instead of traditional red wine. The result is a noticeable difference in taste and aroma. "I think the first one's better," they say, highlighting the distinct character of the two sauces. This exercise serves as a valuable lesson: just because two ingredients may share similar names or characteristics doesn't mean they can be swapped out without consequences.

Moving on to another challenge, our friend is tasked with evaluating bacon cooked in different ways. In this case, they're comparing traditional frying methods against baking. As they attempt to fit three strips of bacon into a pan, they're met with failure due to the limited space available. This frustration leads them to seek alternative solutions, and that's where baking comes into play.

Baking bacon offers several advantages over traditional frying methods. Not only does it result in a more even cooking process, but it also allows for larger quantities of bacon to be prepared at once. Our friend discovers that by baking their bacon, they can create multiple strips without the need for cumbersome pan arrangements.

As our friend continues with the blind taste test, they come across a surprising surprise: chicken stock A and B. One is made from scratch using fresh ingredients, while the other is store-bought. The difference in flavor profiles is stark, with the homemade option boasting a rich, complex character that's hard to match. Chicken stock B, on the other hand, falls flat compared to its counterpart.

In this instance, our friend's experience serves as a cautionary tale about the importance of using high-quality ingredients when cooking from scratch. Store-bought alternatives often lack the depth and richness found in homemade versions. This exercise underscores the value of investing time and effort into creating your own sauces, stocks, and other condiments.

Finally, our friend is presented with one last challenge: evaluating two different chicken stocks made by a YouTube personality named Sienna. The first stock is cold, while the second has been warmed up. Our friend takes a sip of each, reacting strongly to the distinct differences between the two. Chicken Stock A is described as "sumptuous" and rich, with a flavor that's both satisfying and complex.

Chicken Stock B, however, falls short in comparison. It's described as tasting like "water," lacking any real depth or character. Our friend's strong reaction highlights the importance of using high-quality ingredients when cooking from scratch. By investing time and effort into creating your own sauces and stocks, you can unlock a world of flavors that simply aren't available with store-bought alternatives.

In conclusion, this blind taste test serves as a valuable reminder about the importance of developing our palates and learning to appreciate subtle differences in ingredients. Whether it's trying new sauces or experimenting with different cooking methods, embracing experimentation is key to unlocking new flavors and textures. By investing time and effort into creating your own condiments and dishes from scratch, you can develop a deeper appreciation for the art of cooking and the joy of discovering new flavors.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: en- (whispering) That'll do it.All right, oh, hi!Hey guys, we got a differentkind of basics for you today.I'm going to go over 10 kitchen tipsI wish I knew before I started out.I want that to appear onthe screen in graphics.Yes, do it!10 kitchen tips I wish Iknew before I started out.and gone.No, not you, the graphics (smacking head).And I'm going to be randomly joinedby TikTok megastar Sienna Mae Gomez.who I think has like,like 25 million followers on TikTok.So she's way more famous than I am.And I'm going to teach herhow to flip stuff in a pan.(upbeat theme music)Mise en place, whatexactly does that mean?No one knows.I think it meanseverything in its place.That's actually what it means.It means that you want tohave all of your ingredientslaid out, chopped up, measured, weighedbefore you start cooking.How do you know what to mise out?Look at the list of ingredients.When you look at it,it's going to say one mediumonion, finely chopped.It's going to say oneteaspoon of whatever this is.What the hell is that?Anise seed.It's going to say half ateaspoon of ground annatto.It's going to say four and a half ouncesof all purpose flour.Measure everything out, chop everything upbefore you start cooking.It makes everything so much easier.Please just do it.Rachael Ray and I had it out when we metbecause she thinks hername is spelled wrong.I'm like, no, it'sspelled the way it sounds.Anyhoo, joining me is Sienna Mae Gomez.- Hi guys.- Now you're massively famous on TikTok.but most of my viewers look like me.So for them, tell us in a few wordswho you are and what you're about.- Okay I am a content creator,mostly on the app TikTok.And I kind of just promote self loveand body positivity and I love to eat.So that's why I'm here,I'm trying to learn.- Well, then these tips are for you.- (laughs) I know.- Have you ever flipped food in a pan?- It didn't go well,I tried, I've tried.- Yeah, it usually ends in disaster,especially because whenyou're flipping stuffon the stove top.Like when you spill stuffon here, how awful is that?- Oh, it like gets in the cracksand then I try to grabit and then I get burned.- Yeah, no, it's a disaster.So the best way to learn isto not do it on the stove.And I like to use candy.(candy hitting the pan)Just throw some candy in a pan.And this is a greatkind of pan to learn inbecause it is light andit's got really high walls.So what you want to do, geteverything down to this end.And then, you know, yourinstinct is to sort ofgo like that (candy clatters in pan)which is why things go everywhere.But what you really wanna dois just kind of shuffle things around.So you get it down at the end.And just kind of flick it up like that.(candy clatters quickly in pan)- Hmm, like a technique.- Give it a shot.(candy clatters in pan)- That was perfect, you got it.- That was kinda good.- Yeah, it's perfect, youlook like a perfect chef.- Yeah.- Not one drop.All right, let's do ita little harder then.This is gonna be a little more challengingbecause the walls in the pan are lower.So you're gonna have to(candy clattering in pan)keep it a little bit more controlled.(candy clattering in pan) Oh!(candy clattering in pan) Oh!- Yeah.Move over, this is my job now.Can I try to guess?- Yes, guess what kind of salts these are.- Okay, this is, waitare they all sea salt?- These are actually notdifferent kinds of saltbecause of where they are,where they're from rather.They're different textures of salts.- Is this course?- That is, it's a kind of coarse saltwhich is called kosher salt.And then you got the table salt hereand then this is a flaky finishing salt.So table salt is great for bakingbecause when people aredeveloping the recipesthat's what they use.So if they say, you know,half a teaspoon of saltthat's what they're talking about.Kosher salt is good for cookingbecause it's a coarser grainwhich means that there'sless salt in any given pinch.It's also pinch-able, soyou can pick it up like thisand you can control how much is going inby just wiggling your fingers.Like I'm just moving themback and forth right now.- Would this fall through?- So that's what we'regoing to test right now.So try to grab a pinch of thatand then try and grab apinch of the kosher salt.See it just kind offalls through like sand.- Yeah, it feels like salt looking.- Yeah, and then try to kosher salt.You just have more control.- Mmm, it's like crunchy.- It's crunchy, exactly.That's the other thing,it adds a little texture sometimes.- It's like that one meme,Do you know what I'm talking about?- No. (long guitar chord)- You put this on top?- This is the finish something off,so if you're making a steakor something like that,this adds texture.It's these big crunchy flakes.I mean really all saltkind of tastes the same.There are some slight variations,but what you're really,what you really need to knoware the different textures,that's what's most important.So next step, we're going todo a blindfolded smell test.and we don't have the blindfoldso this will have to suffice.- Perfect.- That's this is anotherapproved use from the CDC.- I know this works so well,I can't see anything.- So what we're gonna do iswe're gonna test to see ifyou can tell the differencebetween pre-ground andfreshly ground pepper.Because a lot of people don't really careabout pepper and I care a great deal.Clearly I've just blindfoldeda TikTok star to prove a point.(Sienna laughs)So I definitely care a lot about pepper.Okay ready?- Mm-hmm.- I'm going to present onepepper at a time to youand just give it a good whiffand tell me which one smells better.Here's number one.Okay.- Okay?And here's number two.- Oh, that one, that one's so much better.It's like way more, um- Peppery?- Yeah, it's like way more strong.- Yeah, yeah.- It's way stronger.- This is the freshly ground pepper.- Is it really?- You chose correctly.I should have labeledthem, so I could prove itBut this is the freshly ground pepper.- Wait, can I see it?What's the difference?- It smells more floral.- This isn't really like,if you didn't tell meit was pepper, I probably,I don't know what that is.- You can taste the difference too,You grab a little bit.- Mmm.- Delicious pepper.- I get it, I get it.- As you can see before me,I have a selection of steaksbecause I'm a lucky, lucky boy.But I actually made these for a reason.And that is the importance of temperature.I know that these are all cookedto a perfect, medium rare.Even though I can't see inside them.Can you see inside them?I didn't cut them open.I didn't go like thisbecause this doesn't work.I'm sure somebody at somebarbecue has taught youthat this means medium rare,medium, medium well, well.And that's a pretty good guidelinebut definitely not accurate.Because different steakshave different thicknesses.They have different textures of the beefand people have different hands.You might have a rock hard hand.So what is a growing boy to do?You got to use a thermometer.This is a very expensive thermometer,but something you getoff Amazon for 10 bucksis still going to do the jobmuch better than this (beep).So as you can see, ifyou use a thermometeryou're going to getpredictable, accurate results.Every time, no matter thethickness or texture of your steakor the thickness or texture of your thumb.So remember if you use yourthumb meat, you're a deadbeat.If you use the thermometer.Oil.Your grocery store probablyhas a selection of oilsabout 50 times this size.there are so many different kinds of oils.And while they're all greatin their own special waysyou really only need three.You really only need three.This is supposed to disappear.(swoosh)Oh jeez.Okay, this is, this isreally all you need.You got some vegetable oil,got some extra virgin olive oiland then we got some light olive oil.And this is probably eventhe most optional one.The vegetable oil,this is your great all around deep frying,sauteing, everything where you need oilwhere you're not trying to impart flavor.This is what's known asa neutral flavored oil.It's got a high smoke point.So you can heat this up towhat is the smoke point of vegetable oil?It's like 450?Can you check, I'm sorry.It is.Then we've got extra virgin olive oil.It's got a much lower smoke point,375 degrees Fahrenheit,350, 325,325.- 320 to 375.- Oh! Well, ish.If you saute or sear anything in olive oilit's going to taste bitter.Because this stuff doesn't like high heatextra virgin olive oilalso has a really distinctkind of fruity flavor to it.And it's much better for eating with breaddip some bread in thereor finishing pasta oranything where you need toadd some extra virgin olive oil flavor.For cooking with olive oil,you want to use a lightolive oil like this guy.You can tell just by looking at itit's not a deep green,it's a lighter color.This one just says olive oil,it doesn't say extra-virgin.And even below that, it saysfor sauteing and grilling.So this is going to havea higher smoke point.I'm guessing around 375.The last and most important thingI want to teach youabout oil is rancidity.Rancidity.It's a fun word to say.It's like saying the word edited.You know, that's a Pete Holmes joke.if you say editing, editin the past tense, edited.Anyway, rancidity, Brad!Oil goes rancid, especially olive oil.Olive oil really only has ashelf life of like six months.Smell your olive oil.If you've been hangingonto it for a few yearsI guarantee that stuffis not good no more.Olive oil should smellclean and light and fruityand that's about it.And if you're cooking with rancid oilyou're going to end upwith rancid tasting food.These are facts.Brad, come back!Peanut oil.This just tastes better whenyou're deep frying things.If you have a peanut allergy,obviously don't use this.You will die if you don't have, oh no!Alright, next step I want to talk about isnot replacing ingredientsunless you know your (beep).Here to help me is my friend,oh, these are hot, theseare hot, hot things.Let him explore his universe.So you're just helping me outby being my blind taste tester here.I've made two pan sauces,absolutely identically.So first up, here's the firstsauce I want you to taste it.It's just a red wine sauce, there we go.Nice, nice, nice, nice.- Mmm, okay.- Okay.Okay, a little accurate, not much.It's a red wine reduction,be good with a steak.- Little buttery though, right?- Yeah, I know, I gotsome butter in there.Alright, now try this one.Here you go, here you go.I'm going to put it right up to your lipsand your gonna sip it, okay, here we go.Here we go, here we go.(laughing quietly)- Ooh (cringes)(sniffles) I think the first one's better.- That's because the second onewasn't made with red wine,but rather red wine vinegar.- So you can see.- Medicine though,like maybe that wasgood for me in some way.- It's probably good for your gut health.However, let it be the lesson to us allthat you can't just swap something outbecause it's called the same thing.You're going to have a hard timesmelling things for the next few days.- Alright, guess I'll go.You wanna lead me out of here?- Well, I have anotherthing for you to taste test.- Oh good.- But that's another tip for another day.And another part of the episode.We'll be right back.How many is this happened to you?You're trying to fry up somebacon after a night of passionand you can only fit threeGod damn strips in thereat a (beep) time.And they won't even fit really(grunts in frustration).Well, I have the solution.You should bake your bacon.When you bake your bacon, itbakes up evenly and perfectly.And you can make a whole bunch at a timeinstead of four measlystrips, because let's face it,After that we just had,we're going to need morethan two strips of bacon each.Right, Brad?I don't want to poisonhim, how old is this?- It's just one sip, it's fine.- Yeah, but once it'sopen it's seven days.- Oh it's less.- Okay, alright, alright.Okay, we're still rolling?- Yup.- Alright.Ugh, oh God, what just came out of this?(both laughing)Don't worry about it,don't worry about it.Don't worry about it, don'tworry about it, it's fine.- (exclaims) Oh!- It's not okay!- It's not okay.- What the (beep) is this?- Ready.(everyone laughing)- Okay (laughing hysterically)- I'm ready.- Did you see that?- Nope.- No, you didn't (laughing)(everyone laughing)- I'm ready.- Next up, chicken stock.Is it really worth making yourself?- Yes (both laughing).- I'm going to hit you withtwo different chicken stocks, okay?One's homemade, one's store-bought.You tell me which one's which.- Here's number one.- Mmm.- Good, good, good. Yeah.- Mmm.- Mmm.So that's that's chicken stock A.It seems like you liked it.- Cold.(laughing quietly)(laughing out loud)- All right, that was chickenstock A, the cold one.Here we go, here we go, here we go.And there's chicken stock B.- Ew, God, ew.Yeah, the second one's like water.The first one was sumptuous.The first one was good,the second one was bad.- Need I say more?Thank you so much for coming outand pushing yourself outsideof your comfort zone here.- Thank you.- And now we're going to goeven further, and make some avocado toast.- I'm ready.- Alright.- I'm excited.- Go check outSienna's YouTube channelto see her flip an egg.See if it works, see if it splats.- It might not.No, It will. I'm confident about it.- We almost, this almost wasa chicken stock business.Just that. Remember?- Chicken stock business.Don't say the name of it though.- No, no, no, no, I didn't.It's that good, the name.- I'm trying to back pedal right now.- Think of the best namefor a chicken stock businessyou've ever thought of, double it.(everyone laughs)\n"