Teaching TasteThe Most Fundamental Skill for

the Successful Chef

Chef Christopher Koetke Chef Christopher Koetke Executive DirectorExecutive Director

Kendall College School of Culinary ArtsKendall College School of Culinary Arts

Vice President, Vice President, Laureate International UniversitiesLaureate International UniversitiesCenter for Culinary ExcellenceCenter for Culinary Excellence

chris.koetke@kendall.edu

Teaching Taste

• Setting a taste context

• Role of taste

• Taste 101

• Teaching taste

Do Our Students Taste?

• How we train our children– Johnny– Jean

• And voila—what

should we expect?

The Role of Taste

• Interpretation of food as:– Safe to eat– Nutritional needs– Define who you are– Delicious to eat--

pleasure

• Quality control

Taste 101: Visual• Precursor to the chemical /physical appreciation

– Is it safe to eat?– Do I want to eat it?

• Consider color, height, shape

– Color and shape ex.

• What is absurd?• Open kitchens• Action stations

Taste 101: Hearing

• Can you really hear food?• Bubbles• Crunch• Sizzle• Kitchen sounds

Taste 101: Olfaction

• First chemical interpretation of food– Is it safe to eat?– Do I want to eat it?

• Two pathways– Nasal– Retronasal

• Alert system

Taste 101: Olfactory “Taste”

• 20,000 aromas

• Many levels of intensity

• Some very small

• Complexity

• Memory

• Nostril differences

• Social training

• Thermal role

Taste 101: Taste• Final Chemical Analysis of

food• 5 tastes: sweet, salt, acid,

bitter, umami• The tongue map—taste buds

in the mouth• Super tasters: 25% population

(2/3 women)• Importance of finish

Taste 101: Texture

• Mouth “feel”

• Thermal

• Particulate

• Slimy, fatty, sticky, etc.

• Spicy

Taste 101: Other factors

• History and associations

• Social groups

• Religion

• Individual perceptions

and biological differences

• Others??...

Teaching Taste

• Assessing our assumptions– Assume the students can’t

recognize taste– Assume they have no taste library– Assume that they have no words

for taste– Learn about our own taste,

preferences, and preconceived ideas

Teaching Taste

• Objective:– Build skills– Build tasting library– Build vocabulary (not with a list)– Build an impulse to taste– Build a control

Teaching Taste• The basics:

– Ask lots of questions, prod and struggle– Assign words and categorize them– Make students write down words– Have fun! Disarm them– Make sure everyone contributes

Teaching Taste

• Organized tastings:– Up and down tasting– Redefine a familiar definition/experience– Comparative tastings (start very diverse)– Single tastings (start with familiar, build on

library experiences)

Teaching Taste

• Non-organized tastings:– Reinforce tastings through curriculum– Take every chance to build library– Do not give answers!– Use the individual experience to teach the group– Use extremes– Use comparative tastings—i.e. the sauce

Teaching Taste

• TAAT:

– Taste

– Analyze

– Adjust

– Taste

TA

AT

Teaching Taste

• Advanced techniques:– Complexity

• Maillard reaction• BBQ potato chips• Spicy nacho sauce

– Balance and the circle• Vinaigrette• Sauces

THANK YOU

Teaching TasteThe Most Fundamental Skill for

the Successful Chef

Chef Christopher Koetke CEC CCE HAAC Chef Christopher Koetke CEC CCE HAAC chris.koetke@kendall.edu