Flavor

This isn’t about being a vegetarian, I was just reminded me of something by an article I saw online.

I had my first vegetarian meal back in the late 70s. In my perception, being a vegetarian in the 70s was not quite as big a thing as it is today, but it was a fairly widespread and popular way of life. However, there apparently had not been much in the way of work on developing vegetarian cuisine. If there was, it was a well kept secret.

Boiled vegetables – that was the dinner – boiled vegetables.

Somehow herbs were unknown to the person who cooked the meal, as was salt or the idea of roasting or sautéing. Or maybe they just preferred things that way. Maybe they saw being that type of a vegetarian as their way of doing some sort of penance; a gastronomical suffering that was good for their soul. Whatever the reason it was one of the blandest meals I have ever experienced.

Yet that meal has since been surpassed – if that is the right term – by a dish in a specific Japanese restaurant. They had a negamaki entrée, not just an appetizer. Great, I love negamaki. This was some aberrant form of negamaki and in a single bite it eclipsed the bad vegetables by being so devoid of taste that it sucked the flavor from everything else in the room and banished it down a black hole of bland inedibleness. I still rank that restaurant 11th out of the 9 Japanese restaurants I have eaten at.

In comparison the boiled vegetables were simply possessed of a poor flavor. Some form of seasoning would have helped immensely. Maybe a little butter or olive oil and some herbs. These days it seems to be more acceptable to have flavor in a vegetarian meal, which is something I heartily approve of.

We need food to nourish our bodies but we need flavor to nourish our souls. Yes, I did just say that. Food should be a pleasure. You may like mild flavors, but at least have flavor. Of course whatever your preference a meal should be enjoyable. Me, I enjoy flavor.