Jack Burke

Sensory Results

I really enjoyed the levels of creativity that I got to achieve this week. Each dish resulted in various sensory results, such as the crunch of the brioche paired with the “melt-in-your-mouth” texture of the lardo, or the crisp edges of the pork belly paired with the crunchy bitter greens.

One thing I very much appreciated with each dish was the different variations of flavor in each dish. The lardo had lots of umami flavor the was paired with a sweet, vinegary taste of the peach mostarda. The pork belly had a nice sweet and spicy flavor to it, while the bitter greens salad had a very nice taste thanks to the bacon vinaigrette, which offered a balanced vinaigrette flavor to the dish.

Evaluation of Techniques

This week, our technique of braising was put to the test with the pork belly. For me, I seared the pork belly before braising, while also searing afterwards (this was done by mistake), but it offered a really nice sensory result overall. While it was not ideal, I did appreciate the crunchy edges of the cubed pork belly, even though they were double seared.

I do think that the searing led to a really nice flavor in the pork belly, as it retained a nice flavor throughout braising, but the second sear left the belly slightly caramelized with flavor, which was nice for me, but may not be everyone ideal way to eat pork belly. I’d love to try it again without doing the initial or final sear.

Conclusion

I really loved this lab as it allowed for many different opportunities for creativity. After doing some more research into braising, I found that the foundation is what makes a good braise and ensuring that your foundation is not only made up of excellent vegetables, but nice seasoned liquids and seasonings overall (El-Waylly 2021).

I cannot wait to see what we get into next week.

Works Cited

El-Waylly, S. (2021, March 8). Sohla’s golden rules for braising. Food52. https://food52.com/story/26005-how-to-braise