Does Food Presentation Trump Ingredient Quality?
Is there a difference between presentation and quality of food? Which one is more important? Visit high end restaurants and you’ll notice presentation, taste and quality of ingredients are highly important. Yet what is missing is nutrient dense, unadulterated foods that nourish the body, not just the palate.
I looked at a fun little video that was fascinating to me because quality of ingredients obviously makes the experience so much better. For example, meatballs are hard to differentiate between cooks except for condiments such as spices or marination. But add in a little chopped up steak and you have a world of difference in flavor and texture.
In the video below, there are three chefs - a level one (amateur), a level two (home cook) and a level three (pro). Each made their own version of hamburgers and then a food scientist graded them.
Ingredients
The amateur chef used store bought ground beef with spices and bread crumbs, which oddly comes out more like a meatball. Her ingredients are cheap and unhealthy and her cooking skills comedically unsuitable.
The level two chef used 80% lean grass fed ground (shoulder) chuck, which is really healthy, but he fell flat with the white Kaizer bun.
The pro chef used ground beef short ribs, allowing him to control the amount of fat in the burger. Unfortunately he was only after texture and taste, not after quality of health. So not a word on whether it was simply supermarket quality or grass fed.
Handling + Shaping
Besides ingredients, the three chefs flattened the meat in various ways. The level one and level two chefs used common techniques in shaping the meat while the pro chef made a volcano shape in the paddy to allow for modulation of water loss and have the burger become nice and puffy after cooking at high temperatures.
Cooking Surfaces
Cooking surfaces were also starkly different. The level one and level two chefs used a non-stick fry pan (unhealthy due to chemical leeching) though it was unecessary because the fat of the hamburger should stop any sticking on the cooking surface.
The pro used a cast iron pan that holds a lot of heat from the bottom of the pan, as well as the sides to create a better heat flow around the burger. Cast iron is a time wron and healthy cooking surface.
Seasoning + Cooking
Seasoning meant sprinkling some salt on the burger just prior to putting the paddy on the grill, to change the protein structure during cooking and add some toughness. Interestingly, the pro used beef fat while cooking the burger for added flavor, not butter which may burn at higher temperatures. He also added an onion on one side to become caralimized for earthy flavors to emerge.
You generally want to avoid cutting the burger to find out if its done because the juices run out. You can time the burger, but any changes in ingredients can throw off the timing and make it tricky. The pro used a finger to see if the burger was firming up, which is an experienced touch.
The bun is also important and all three chefs fell flat with their decisions as each would be processed (white grocery store bun, Kaiser bun, potato roll).
The difference of condiments with a pro is homemade pickles, dill, garlic coriander seed, mustard seed, and chili marinaded in brine to bring out the taste of the toppings. His cheese - a semi-soft cow’s milk munster - would add a unique taste profile as it has a smooth texture and a mild buttery flavor that gets stronger and tangier with age.
I thought this was an extremely unique way to take a better look at the humble burger and its inception into a masterpiece. There really are levels to cooking and presentaton, but quality of ingredients ultimately comes down to where the beef, bun and condiments originate, not merely how the end product tastes.