Saturday, October 28, 2006
What do desserts and comedy have in common?
Foodies think of food as an art form. I have no problem with that. Indeed, I came to a similar conclusion toward the end of an excellent meal at a hot new restaurant in town that was topped off by extremely disappointing dessert and lousy coffee.
I've had this experience more times than I can shake a stick at: incredible, creative appetizers and entrees followed by overwrought desserts that just fail. Why does that happen? Why is it that, 9 times out of ten when I order dessert at a fine restaurant, I wind up thinking I'd have been better off going out for donuts?
The following set of food-literature analogies popped into my head.
Drama criticism is more straightforward. The medium is more accessible. The critics have something to tell us, but at the end of the day, they have to acknowledge that moving the audience matters. It's not only about good taste, it also has to taste good.
Have you ever noticed that there are no "comedy critics"? Or put another way, we are all, each of us, comedy critics. Basically, if the comedian doesn't make us laugh, he's not funny. Can you imagine some know-it-all critic explaining how this comedian really was funny, and we'd have laughed our heads off if only we had a more sophisticated palette?
That, my friends, is the problem with fancy dessert. You can hire the most exquisitely trained pastry chef but what the hell good is his fancy dessert creation if you don't enjoy it as much as you enjoy the big chocolate chip cookie from the coffee shop down the street?
Dessert and comedy -- trying too hard just doesn't work.
I've had this experience more times than I can shake a stick at: incredible, creative appetizers and entrees followed by overwrought desserts that just fail. Why does that happen? Why is it that, 9 times out of ten when I order dessert at a fine restaurant, I wind up thinking I'd have been better off going out for donuts?
The following set of food-literature analogies popped into my head.
Wine is like poetry.What do I mean by all this? Let's start with poetry. There is great poetry, and there are truly insightful literary critics who can enlighten us about it. But there is a metric buttload of just okay or mediocre or plain old bad poetry, and an equally sizeable buttload of poseurs who get up on their hind legs and lay claim to insight and expertise and tell us how good it is. Like wine snobs.
The main meal is like drama.
Dessert is like comedy.
Drama criticism is more straightforward. The medium is more accessible. The critics have something to tell us, but at the end of the day, they have to acknowledge that moving the audience matters. It's not only about good taste, it also has to taste good.
Have you ever noticed that there are no "comedy critics"? Or put another way, we are all, each of us, comedy critics. Basically, if the comedian doesn't make us laugh, he's not funny. Can you imagine some know-it-all critic explaining how this comedian really was funny, and we'd have laughed our heads off if only we had a more sophisticated palette?
That, my friends, is the problem with fancy dessert. You can hire the most exquisitely trained pastry chef but what the hell good is his fancy dessert creation if you don't enjoy it as much as you enjoy the big chocolate chip cookie from the coffee shop down the street?
Dessert and comedy -- trying too hard just doesn't work.
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Do you know in fact that they tried hard with the dessert?
Most places do not have dessert chefs. (Even Madison's most pricey eatery did not hire such a person until a year ago.) Our town's picketbook cannot support it. And most people these days buy one dessert for the table and share it. It doesn't invite great experimentation.
Where was this place anyway?
Most places do not have dessert chefs. (Even Madison's most pricey eatery did not hire such a person until a year ago.) Our town's picketbook cannot support it. And most people these days buy one dessert for the table and share it. It doesn't invite great experimentation.
Where was this place anyway?
The best desserts I've found are at Diners. Usually Greek diners. And that's because they have them sent over from the best bakery in the town.
But I suppose that I prefer a more pedestrian dessert: a slice of a really good cake or pie, rather than some strange and exotic looking thing drizzled with chocolate. Of course, nobody makes a decent chocolate mousse anymore.
And that's if I even bother with dessert anyway. I've already taken a big calorie hit by eating a meal in a restaurant anyway, and eating a day's worth of calories disguised as a dessert isn't "on my menu" anymore.
(and what's a "picketbook"?)
But I suppose that I prefer a more pedestrian dessert: a slice of a really good cake or pie, rather than some strange and exotic looking thing drizzled with chocolate. Of course, nobody makes a decent chocolate mousse anymore.
And that's if I even bother with dessert anyway. I've already taken a big calorie hit by eating a meal in a restaurant anyway, and eating a day's worth of calories disguised as a dessert isn't "on my menu" anymore.
(and what's a "picketbook"?)
I've sorta gotten into haikus lately, and saw one in your list of analogies:
Foodie Haiku
Wine is poetry
The main meal is like drama
Dessert, comedy
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Foodie Haiku
Wine is poetry
The main meal is like drama
Dessert, comedy
# posted by 
: 12:59 PM, November 16, 2006
: 12:59 PM, November 16, 2006 Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
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