Thoughts on food

One of our neighbors recently gave my family a couple of boxes of food;she knew that I was out of work, and also that she had some food in her pantry that she wasn't going to touch for some time.  Since most of the food was prepackaged foods along the lines of "Tuna Helper", "Hungry Jack", and such, it was something of a change for our "made from scratch" kitchen.  Some was reasonably good, some left something to desired, and all in all, it reminded me of what we all desire in food: some sugar, some fat, and some salt. 

The difference between food that gets Michelin stars and that which gets the air sickness bag award is simply how these key ingredients are treated.  Any fool can add extra sugar, fat, or salt (or usually a combination of the three) and come up with something that seems semi-palatable, but the genius of fine cooking is how to make a tiny bit of these key ingredients scream for attention, like in a good brioche , a steak cooked over high heat, or carmelized onions or mushrooms over that same piece of meat. 

For those about to rock (the kitchen), we salute you.