visceral is a very important word

The Art & Science of Fruit Culture, Day 6
March 26, 2011
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Today, we finished reviewing raspberries and other cultivars related to the raspberry. We talked about what constitutes a good berry. We then moved to discussing the grape. I don't remember hearing in class directly what "table" grape means, but I assume from my past experience (reading "Table Grape" on the outside of case-after-case of grape boxes I stocked at Rainbow Grocery) that a table grape is a grape for the table--therefore, that it is a grape meant for eating--as opposed to a wine grape, that is used for making wine. Upon a quick search on the internet for grape definitions, I saw only two types, table and wine, so I am assuming the distinction I am making is correct.

The training strategies of grapevines was incredibly interesting to me. I thought the two different types of guided growth, cane and cordon, were very cool in each their own appearance, utilization and general effect. It is amazing to me that winemakers control the number of shoots on each cane to try to control the quality of flavor of the grape as much as possible. Jeff said that a higher yield on a grape harvest produces a less-flavorful wine batch. This has to do with the spacing of the spurs and the availability of the sun to each spur. Is a higher-yield harvest less flavorful because each individual grape plant only has so much energy available to put into fruiting? The more fruit, the thinner the energy has to be spread? What is this "energy" I am talking about?

Some delicious red wine on my b-day, December 2010

I am interesting in having a wonderful home base when I grow up. I would like a place to return to that is sustainable and beautiful, and it made me really happy to envision having my own landscaping that incorporates grapes like what Jeff was talking about. What is exiting to me about this class is with the large range of things we talk about, I am able to feel what kinds of things about pomology interest me, and what I would like to know more of in the future. For example, Makayla wanted to know what grape leaf was best to use for making dolmas and talking about dolmas made me realize that I want to learn how to make dolmas some day.

Jeff mentioned how he learned to taste olive oils, and this made me viscerally remember the feeling of the delicious olive oils I had the opportunity to taste through my friends at the bulk section of Rainbow Grocery. Bright green, grassy, light, sweet, nuanced... I am no professional taster of anything. Before Rainbow, I thought you needed to be trained somehow in tasting foods in order to talk about taste, but once I decided to start winging it last summer--customer after customer were always looking for descriptions of the fruits--I realized that all you need is your taste buds, a desire to pay attention, and an honest wish to try to translate what you taste into words, and people will end up understanding what you mean.

I'll never forget sampling fig varieties to a customer this summer who had the patience to taste with me and listen to my descriptions. 'This one is kind of sweet, but sweet like honey... but then there is something that happens in the nose, and little like cinnamon. This other fig is very syrupy sweet, like sugar and it doesn't have much complexity to the taste, nothing really happening in the nose...'  Some how he knew exactly what I meant! He could taste what I was talking about as I was talking, and we both were very excited about how the words and tastes were translating. He gave his input, and together we created a collaborative narrative of the fig varieties that day. From that point on, I stopped apologizing to people for not "knowing" what I was talking about with flavors of food. I was unafraid to give my opinion on what the best fruits were and sampling to customers who completely disagreed.

The beautiful thing about taste is that everyone has their very own relationship with flavor. Some people want the sweetest fruit, and others came in asking specifically for the most bitter fruit we had.

My whole life, I always thought that I didn't know what I was doing in the kitchen, but what I realized from this tasting-experience epiphany is that cooking and pairing tastes is less about thinking and more about intuition. When people asked me what to put in a stir-fry, or what to put in their pastry, or what to put in their salad, I would wait...and the answers would come from somewhere deep inside. I would feel the sense of the flavor they knew they wanted and then ideas started coming as to what to add to their dish. This became the most exciting part of my job at Rainbow. The customers who were curious enough and patient enough to wade through different samplings with me in the Produce section were the ones who inspired me to keep learning more and more about produce and tastes and recipes and herbs and spices. The pleasure of food and being an active creator in the tastes of one's daily meals really came to light for me through this process of interacting with customers.

This is where I am after class today. Through this writing process, I have tied what we learned today in The Art and Science of Fruit Culture with an experience from my past that I did not realize was as significant as it was. I am excited to see what the next and final week of this class brings.