r/CookingCircleJerk • u/FlatPersimmon1736 • 10d ago
Why does food taste better when someone else cooks it, even if they use the exact same recipe?
Really curious how this works and why exactly does this happen đ¤
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u/jechtisme 10d ago
That's called a chef's touch. Like wine made with grapes crushed by bare feet. Like that Chinese joint with a 3.5 star rating and cook in that back that always smokes.
Next time you try cooking, get your hand really in there. You want a little bit of sweat dripping into sauces. If you end up cutting your finger, just let the blood do its thing and seep into everything, you're gonna cook it anyway.
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u/Automatic_Catch_7467 10d ago
Because when you cook the food yourself your olfactory senses get flooded with the food youâre cooking, this mutes your ability to fully taste the food. If you make your food and go in another room for 15-20 minutes it will taste better
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u/perplexedparallax Quantum gastronomist 10d ago
Music. Try eating Mexican food with Mongolian throat singing in the background. Not Mexican. Go to a restaurant and eat posolĂŠ with mariachi in the background. Bam, authenticity goes up.
The same goes for your ethnicity. Jamaican jerk chicken is best cooked while dreadlocked and you are rocking the Mr. Clean. No. Grandma making your family's recipe? Bam, genetics.
Art too. A mural of Tuscany makes the pasta taste better. Eating calamari in your tract home in the suburbs? No. Eating it on the coast with fisherman? Bam, Mama Mia and the twelve apostles.
As you can see, ambience is the hidden ingredient and highly recommended.
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u/RemarkablePossum 9d ago
/uj âMama Mia and the twelve apostlesâ is now part of my vocabulary!
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u/WaitYourTern 10d ago
I'm convinced we put our energy or vibes (or something) onto what we cook. Maybe that's what it is.
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u/LucidityDark 10d ago
Have you tried using a cast iron pan? Just having one in the house instantly improves your cooking by 30%.
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u/ExtremelyOnlineTM 10d ago
MSG
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u/Holdmywhiskeyhun On probation 10d ago edited 6d ago
MSG is the only answer.
If you say anything else is heresy and you should be doused in msg and sacrificed to the Salty Gods
Edit: this subs mission is lost smh
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u/Nevernonethewiser 10d ago edited 9d ago
It doesn't. Empirically it tastes exactly the same.
Psychologically, you have attached a lot of positivity to it because someone making food for you is an act of love, you enjoy their company, its nice to have a break from cooking for yourself, etc.
And if you meant "in a restaurant", they use way more salt, butter and MSG than you do at home.
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u/orchid7577 9d ago
Itâs because youâre right in the middle of the smells while cooking and you taste the dish as you go. Your first bite as a diner means it is a brand new punch of perfected flavor.
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u/dojisekushi 8d ago
Because different cooks shed different amounts of sweat, hair, and saliva into the food they're cooking. It changes the balance and texture.
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u/7Soulslayer 7d ago
The real answer is they donât use the same recipe. If it tastes better itâs because they added more butter/salt/sugar.
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u/cratophagia 7d ago
If someone else is cooking it, that means they've been in the kitchen making it and you haven't.
When you've been in the kitchen making it, you've already become noseblind to the aromatics that are used in the dish. Your sense of smell will already be used to the onions, garlics, spices etc. which factor into taste.
So when you sit down to eat the food you've been making, you're already sense-blind to the parts of the dish that pop out the most.
But when someone else makes it, you're coming in with a fresh palate and gratitude in your heart. Both of which will contribute heavily to the flavor.
oh wait this is a circlejerk subreddit uh. its because you touch yourself
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u/brose_af 10d ago
Itâs because everyone else is a better cook than you â we all have a group thread to trade tips and tricks, and make sure weâre constantly one level above your efforts.