Is it me – or have some vegetables and herbs just lost it?…..
Garlic, for example. I remember the day when one small clove would flavour a whole dish; nowadays, most garlic is so gentle that you can use half a dozen large cloves and you are still groping for the flavour.
Coriander has definitely gone the same way. Only a few years ago, the scent from a small bunch of fresh coriander would permeate a whole room – to the delight of enthusiasts and the disgust of coriander haters. Now, to get even the faintest whiff, you need to bury your nose in the bag.
And now it is chillis… This evening I used a whole, long thin, green chilli which by rights, should have blown my head off, and it was scarcely even warm, let alone hot!
I do not believe that my taste buds have suddenly atrophied – unpasteurised Grano Padano or Parmesan still delights my palate with its sharp, rich depths of flavour, fresh parsley from the garden is still wonderfully pungent, a great Bordeaux still tastes like – a great Bordeaux….
What I do believe is that growers are deliberately breeding the stronger flavours out – presumably because they think they will sell more if they taste of less…… How depressing – especially since there is a good chance that with the flavour they are also breeding out key nutritional elements in those herbs and vegetables…
Speaking of which… I have finally unpacked and set up my new VitaMix smoothie maker – so biophoton (and flavour, we hope)-filled smoothies, here we come… More anon!
Think you are right…a lot of food just doesnt taste like it used to….
Dont think it is that our expectations have changed…or our tastebuds.
It might be the phenomena…of how it used to be simply ages between Bonfire night and Christmas…and how the week before a holiday, I am sure the clock went backwards (as it is doing this week….)
The week of the holiday…went oh so fast….
It cant possibly be us….can it??
Janet
Definitely not us!!! Perish the thought! And if it were, why does my Parmesan still taste just as good?!!!!
Not sure I agree that strong flavours are deliberately being bred out – I think it’s more likely the supermarkets have put the squeeze on growers who are in turn forced to grow their produce at record speed with the aid of fertilisers etc just in order to meet the orders. Taste doesn’t get a look in – so long as the quantity is right and it’s grown to a deadline. Look at strawberries – and looking is all their good for, since they taste like cucumbers. What’s most depressing about this is it’s becoming seen as normal. There’s a whole generation of twentysomethings – and under – who don’t know what a strawberry is meant to taste like. And then we wonder why nobody eats five a day!
The Parmesan cheese….might be that you recall … visually, plus the aroma, plus the richness…and the taste too. All senses working oh so well….and of course it tastes so good….
Alex is right about a whole generation having missed out…didnt used to get English strawberries around here until about Fathers Day….and this year…have had them in April….
Yes, I can enjoy strawberries all year around…if I wish to….but I dont care for Spanish ones…I dont wish to converse with them (they are sin gluten = gluten free)….I want to introduce them to a dollop of cream….
Next question….is what can we do about this??
Janet
Yes, Alex – you may be right – the same deal as bread with the Chorleywood Bread Process. (For those who don’t know an ingenious process invented in the 1960s which uses enzymes and a great deal more yeast to allow you to ‘prove’ the bread at double quick speed thereby saving bakers a great time and therefore money.)
So, Janet – maybe what we all need to do is join the Slow Food Movement – or grow our own…. Although, after my sad failure with my chard and spinach (which never made it above about 2cm in height) I think I may opt for the Slow Food Movement….