Texture Matters
Not considering the texture of food and inadvertently serving something with an inappropriate texture can ruin an otherwise delicious meal.
This may arise from under or over cooking the food. Undercooked rice has an unpleasant crunchy texture whereas overcooked vegetables are watery and flaccid. Or it can be due to serving the food at the wrong temperature. Ice cream is not enjoyable to eat if it is served when it is too cold and frozen solid or when it is too warm and it has all but melted. Inappropriate preparation techniques can
also be another factor.
Using a Variety of Textures
One way of making food more interesting is by using contrasting textures.
Why does this making eating more enjoyable?
We enjoy variety far more than monotony and eating a plate of food where all the textures are similar can be quite dull and unsatisfying.
Imagine sitting down to a meal of creamy soup, followed by creamy fish pie and ending with creamy ground rice pudding. Each of the dishes delicious in their own right, but one after the other would be textural monotony and for most of the meal you wouldn't even have to bother chewing! By the time it got to the dessert you would be craving something to crunch on, or at least something remotely chewy.
Whilst choosing a balance of flavours is important in designing dishes, texture is another aspect that deserves equal attention. A variety of textures not only makes eating more interesting but it also makes the food look more interesting too.
The natural properties of foods combined with different preparation and cooking methods means that there are numerous different textures to play with, including:
Crunchy ~ Chewy ~ Fleshy ~ Creamy ~ Crispy ~ Syrupy ~ Sticky ~ Doughy ~ Wobbly ~ Powdery ~ Crumbly ~ Pulpy ~ Waxy ~ Foamy ~ Fibrous ~ Flaky ~ Granular ~ Runny ~ Airy ~ Juicy ~ Slushy ~ Gooey ~ Fizzy ~ Frothy ~ Oily
