Texture

[summilux]

I’ve been thinking a lot about the texture of food. I spent 6 weeks in China recently and the trip was a gastronomic eye-opener. Texture is a big part of Chinese food, much more so than in Western cuisine. There is an appreciation for rubbery foods and for those with a runny mouth feel (think soft tofu or overripe Brie). I had my share of both, some of which had a high “grapple” factor. Among these were pig brain and spinal cord. These have very little flavor, taking on the flavoring of the broth they were cooked in. Brain has a smooth buttery texture that was quite pleasant in the mouth, like a raw oyster without the brine. Rubbery foods I tried included tripe, intestine and pig ears. Again very little flavor, but pleasantly chewy. I can’t think of a Western food that is intentionally rubbery but these foods are very popular in China. I quite like tripe, it’s chewy with a rough surface texture.

This picture is of BBQ chick (I think). I bought a stick of this in Qibao, a Shanghai suburb with a lot of street food sellers. The chicks have been defeathered but not cleaned and are to be eaten whole, organs and bones together. The flavor was quite nice, like a chicken wing with a umami note provided by the sweetmeats. What really made this were the bones, all of which were crunchy but edible. The crunchiness was a delicious counterpoint to the BBQ flavor. Here in the West, we have plenty of food that is crunchy on the outside, but I can’t think of something that is crunchy on the inside. The closest thing I’ve had in North America are deep fried smelts, which are headed and cleaned but cooked and eaten with the bones in. But smelts are crunchy all the way through, more or less. The chicks were admittedly tough to eat initially, but I got over it and got another stick. They were great.

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Since returning to Canada, I really miss the texture and flavor of mainland Chinese cooking. My palate has been altered and I’m finding that pizza, a food that I formerly adored, somewhat gross. I think it’s the texture of melted cheese on the bread. Many of the Chinese who I discussed food with thought that in Western food, cheese and liver pate were particularly disgusting, specifically because of their texture.

[winmonster]

Texture and flavor contrasts. I'm kind of a wimp, though. Some of the "exotic" Japanese and Vietnamese foods are comfortable for me, though the snacks can be a little shocking to the palette. Start going wheels off with Chinese or Korean food, and I call uncle. Also, pizza can be really good, but something dripping in melted mozzarella is usually not it for me. Sounds like an awesome trip and experience.

[Carbon_Cowboy]

I'm really into texture too. I've been doing food texture research for a few years and there's so much we still don't quite understand about how texture influences other food attributes and overall liking of the food.

We have plenty of foods that are rubbery here in the West, mainly highly processed meats (i.e. bologna and other deli meats & hot dogs, etc.)...but also eggs & overcooked pasta. Interestingly enough the rubberiness of a food is usually inversely correlated with the overall liking of that product. Americans are definitely a crispy/crunchy group. It probably comes from an association with freshness.

I'd love to do cross-cultural research on how the chinese vs. americans perceive certain textures. We've done some small studies with Korean and Japanese and found remarkable similarity in regards to how important texture is to them when compared to Americans.