The Prima Mix - Appetizers, Food Art, and Dietitians
The Prima Mix is a series of regular blog posts that we hope will keep you informed and entertained when it comes to your knowledge of the food and restaurant industry.
Insight
I can really get into a good hors d’oeuvre, but sometimes they look just plain weird, like catnip or an over-sized colorful plant. I usually give the chef the benefit of the doubt and gobble it up regardless of its, at times, unbecoming characteristics. Apparently, when appetizers first originated, some thought of them as “an insult to a hungry man” as the quote below mentions. If you keep reading on Food Timeline’s site, you’ll also see that they were used as an aid to digestion. A personal principle is that an appetizer is an aid to taste buds, nothing else. But maybe that’s just me.
Food for Thought
A look into the past finds that appetizers were not what they used to be. Greece was home to the first recorded appearance of the appetizer. I like their idea, though hopefully history won't repeat itself in terms of the specific foods they used. "The Athenians were...responsible for inventing the original hors d'oeuvre trolley, which other Greeks adduced as proof of their miserly disposition. An Athenian dinner, claimed Lynceus, was an insult to a hungry man. 'For the cook sets before you a large tray on which are five small plates. One of these holds garlic, another a pair of sea urchins, another a sweet wine sop [probably some scraps of wine-soaked bread or marinated fish], another ten cockles, the last a small piece of sturgeon" -From Food in History by Reay Tannahill.
In the Loop
Speaking of eating food, it looks as though the Japanese are taking dieting to a whole new level. The title "Tokyo Restaurant Has Dietitians On Staff To Offer Healthy Meal Advice" sums up the whole article pretty well. To be cynical for a moment, isn’t this dietitian person really just a good marketing rep and up-seller for the restaurant?
Food in Motion
As we end this post, sit back, relax, and enjoy watching how a Watermelon becomes three roses.
Watermelon carving from Vid Nikolic on Vimeo.
Hope you enjoyed this week’s post! What’s the best hors d’oeuvre that you have made? Feel free to share the recipe below and pass it along to others. Do you think the Dietitian job is going to take off? Or is it just another way to get customers to buy more products?
