Surprised by food

I like to be surprised by what I eat...not in a bad way, of course, but I don't necessarily need to like the taste of it to enjoy it. One of my most memorable meals was at a Japanese place last New Year’s eve. It was a six-course meal of traditional “good luck” foods, so there was quite a bit of food on the table, and every bit of it was a surprise. I only liked two or three things, but everything I put in my mouth was surprising.

Especially that cake made out of fish roe and seaweed.

I mean, you expect roe to be a little crunchy at first, but every single bite, no matter how long you chewed it (and it took some chewing) there were pops and squeaks and little bursts of sea-flavor every time my teeth came together. It took a good bit of sake to mitigate all that, and it isn’t a flavor I am looking to experience again…ever…but I’ll always remember it.

On the other end of that spectrum I remember some Thai shrimp wraps that I had a few years back. I don’t remember all the ingredients, but there were those little dried shrimps that the Thai make, some roasted peanuts, small-dice hot peppers, something sweet and something sour, all wrapped up in a leaf of butter lettuce. The whole thing went into the mouth at one time. Virtually everything that your mouth could experience was experienced – crunch, heat, sour, sweet, umami – and it was all going on at once. The first couple of bites were almost overwhelming in the sensations it provided. They had a nice flavor, but the physical experience of chewing and tasting was mind-blowing.

Both of these foods had such unique and interesting textual elements that the taste itself was eclipsed. Most cooks, and all chefs, know that eating is a visual and olfactory experience as much as it is a taste experience, but a lot of people, even professionals, seem to forget that eating involves the sense of touch, too.

EDIT:
The roe dish is called kazunoko, a herring roe on konbu. There is a recipe for it here.

You've been warned though.