“Don’t judge a book by its cover.”

Despite being a trite, overused saying, there is a reason why its so timeworn and repeated. The appearance is just a superior image that has little to do with what it really is like. But still, not true when it comes to food.

Aesthetic pleasure is everything in food. The brighter and cleaner the colors of produce, the fresher and more nutritious it is. A final sprinkle of fresh herbs over a plate of pasta makes a whole lot of difference. Overcooked, blanched veggies taste and feel as bad as it looks. Burnt food turns into an unpleasant black. The more colorful the dish, the more appetizing it becomes to us. Nobody feels hungry looking at a bowl of grey mush.

s into an unpleasant black. The more colorful the dish, the more appetizing it becomes to us. Nobody feels hungry looking at a bowl of grey mush.

I myself judge my food by its appearance many times, especially the colors. My veggies? The greener the better. I love the contrast of the yellow yolk against the whites, my tongue salivates at the glorious sight of  different gorgeous colors of fruits, and my hand automatically reaches for any (naturally) funky-colored food like purple potatoes and blue corn and red spinach. And guess what? Usually these good-looking, colorful food do taste a whole lot better, if only because we believe it to be. Indeed, we eat with our eyes as much as our tongue and taste.

 

That was what determined my choice for lunch yesterday: color. I went to eat at a Japanese restaurant called Pasta de Waraku with my friend Jingwen. Skimming down the long menu, my eyes immediately got drawn to a picture of Tofu in Squid-Ink Sauce. It was a deep charcoal black, and was such a striking contrast against the paleness of the tofu! A thick, black sauce of squid ink? I was extremely curious as to what it would taste like, and took little hesitation to order that dish, despite the fact that I don’t really like tofu.

I was so excited when the waiter finally placed this dish before me!

But alas! This was the rare moments in which choosing food by appearance failed me. I was quite disappointed with it. No, it was not bad, it was actually quite okay with a THICK layer of mozzarella cheese on top, but I had expected a big bold flavor to match its big bold color.

To my disappointment, the flavor was pretty mild, and all I could taste was the cheese, lots and lots of cheese.

Seriously, there was even more cheese than the tofu itself! Since tofu is also pretty bland, the whole dish was just bland to me. I don’t know what squid ink is supposed to taste like, but there was a bit of seaweedy flavor which I can only guess is from the squid ink.

Jingwen ordered the Neopolitan:

Looks nice, but yawn.How boring! Just your basic spaghetti with tomato sauce.

Well, at least I had a visually appealing and tasty dinner last night:

Eggplasta pudding, thy have never failed me so. Aaaw.

I tried something different with potatoes for lunch today: Skillet smashed potatoes with onions and garlic!

I just boiled some baby gold potatoes, then heated them up over a high-heat skillet with onions and garlic, smashed them up a bit, then popped the whole thing into the oven to roast and get crispier. This is the result:

With wrinkly hotdogs and a fried egg! Your basic British breakfast fry-up! (Except the wrinkly part. I swear the hotdogs were all nice and puffed up at first, and then deflated like a pricked balloon when I left it to cool a bit with the egg. Anybody know why?)

I just love roasted/baked potatoes, especially if it gets a tiny bit burnt and has that crispy skin!

Here’s a delicious forkful of potato and yolk:

I also had a bowl of yogurt with grapefruit.

Since we’re on the topic of colors today, don’t you love that reddish color against the white creaminess of the yogurt? God’s creation sure is wonderful and miraculous!

Alright, enjoy your new week everyone, and let me leave you with this question: What is your favorite funky food color? Mine is green! Green cookies, green cakes, green cake, green pancakes, anything green that isn’t supposed to be hooks my interest! I blame it on my fascination with green tea and leafy green vegetables! Somehow green just seems so…healthful and refreshing!

Related posts:

1. I am Fusion Queen
2. A Heinous Pancake Murder
3. Take a Chance with Me
4. Tasty brown goop and Flavorful veggies
5. Scratched my Cooking itch

Tagged as: cheese, dinner, eggplasta pudding, eggs, food porn, hotdogs, Japanese, lunch, pasta, potatoes, yogurt