What makes food 'good'?

[Mikeb]

I picked up a new book, 'La Cuisine' by Hervé This and Pierre Gagnaire, and it brings up a very interesting question that I thought would make for good conversation.

What exactly makes food 'good'? How do people decide what's good and what isn't? Obviously we know when something just tastes good to us, but what influences this? Is it genetics (ie. ethnic makeup), is it based on what we grew up on, the nutrients our body is craving, etc...

Another question, what is your favourite kind of food, and why do you consider it 'good'?

Any and all thoughts are welcome here, trying to stir up some thoughtful discussion.

[Mezzaluna]

Wow, that's subjective. You can be trained to find foods "good" that you used to believe were unpalatable. Yes, your body sometimes craves foods because of their nutrient profiles. Your food preferences vary with time of day, frequency eating a particular food ("Oh no, chicken again?"), religious and cultural influences.....

Having said that, I'll answer for myself that "good" food is visually appealing, cooked and served in clean conditions, prepared with attention and/or love, and is appealing to my palate. For instance, I'm sure that really old, runny camembert is "good" cheese, but you can't get me to eat it because of that "appealing to the palate" point. Hand me a plate of perfectly seared foie gras and I'm thrilled, but I can easily think of 10 people who'd be disgusted.

[diane]

It is an incredibly interesting question. Why did the Duke of Edinburgh complain he only got the "fancy stuff", when he visited a place serving a lunch of Lancashire Hot Pot or somesuch. Why do we ache for foods of long ago, And Simply Must Have THem, RIGHT NOW! Why is it we long for quite odd things when pregnancy blesses us with visitation.

I will remain convinced Mezzaluna is right. Nutritional profiles are primary to longings. But I also think it is more complex than that. I believe primal memory plays a part, not really understood by us, it isn't just flavour it is smell. eg. I fainted in the back hallway at St Cuthberts College, because the smell of the old brown lino exactly the same as the kids home I had been in. The Head Girl caught my 6 week old baby, and I was out of it for an hour. Very powerful. It hit me like a train. So it isn't just food.

But mostly food. I travel around a bit, in this country, and if I am doing a city or town I aways stay in establishments with a dining room. But the menu quickly palls, after a few days. In spite of there being nothing at all wrong with their selections. But they are different. Not home, y'see.

I recently spent a very happy hour in the supermarket talking to a lady some might consider of ill repute. The reason? Lamb shoulder chops quite lightly crumbed in their little package. It really is amazing how the tatoos and things disappear when one is discussing the merits of our grandmothers cooking. We had a ball, and much fun and laughter. Until we were dragged of by our respectives. Me gently, she somewhat roughly, but we both laughed some more, and I remember her with honour.

So what was it all about, food and memory, she told me about 50 years ago on the Maori lands, and I told her about other things,no less pertinent. We parted good friends, but I wanted to kick her significant other in the shins. I really did.

So what is good food about? I think the question is a very large one. I think good food is about each other, measures like cleanliness as a taken. And I really hope others chime in.

This thread is a recipe for life I think.

[foodpump]

I guess for me it all comes down to what I see and what I know. If I know the raspberries have been just picked from someone's garden I'll automatically assume it's "good", If I'm offered a burger that's cupped or abnormally oval shaped I know it's be adultered with soya protein or cereals, I know that most commercially produced diary products are bland, I know that any cheese that is orange has colouring in it, I know that most Chinese food has that "smoky" flavour, which is burnt oil.

Too many factors to say for sure what "good" is, but I'll agree with Diane on smell, which for me is probably more powerful than taste.

[CraftyChef]

When I think of good food I think of it more in its natural state, simply prepared. Lately I've thought that all the mixing and matching and saucing and flavoring has become overkill. At home I eat simple foods, and these are good to me now. 1-2 herbs, a little oil, s&p, and the food.

Now, a couple years ago it would've been a different story. So "good" can also change for people.

[mamac]

When I think of good food, I think of not only my parents who were and are exceptionally good cooks, but I also think of my Grandparents who owned what used to be Giovannetti's Restaurant in Downtown Chicago. They created it and people loved it way back when until it finally had to close it's doors when realtives got too old or died off. Even when my family would go to their house for dinner, you would get a four course Italian meal all homemade. And to this day I cannot eat Italian out unless it is a GOOD Italian Restaurant. It will never be the same, but sometimes I catch a smell of something that reminds me of those younger days and suddenly I am no longer hungry for the food because I know it will never taste the same. My mother, would wasn't much of a cook when she married my father, became a wonderful cook from the sheer pressure of having my Grandparents over for dinner. And my father who always worked outside of the food chain except when he was a teenager, is one fantastic cook as well. I love dining out and I love creating food, but good food to me, is and always will be, Home.