Food quality determines the success or failure of every recipe!

Food quality determines the success or failure of every recipe!

With food costs rising and budgets shrinking, it's tempting to take shortcuts on to make your dollars stretch. However, sacrificing food quality for quantity isn't a smart move, for a couple of important reasons. Buying food of inferior quality means you're not getting all of the nutritive value you should expect and this factor is also reflected in the resulting taste and texture of the finished dish. The quality of the food that goes into your recipes is arguably the most important factor in determining your success or failure as a cook. Let's look at some examples, using common ingredients in every day recipes and let you decide for yourself.

You may know that chefs in better restaurants are absolute sticklers for food quality. When you start with high quality ingredients, the finished product can't help but outshine a dish made with the same basic ingredients, but of a lesser quality.

Freshness is a major consideration when assessing food quality. A tomato from the supermarket, picked when still green, injected with red coloring and then transported hundreds of miles, may look essentially the same as one picked fresh from your garden. However, the moment you taste that tomato, the difference is worlds apart. The tomato which is picked unripe, does not contain the full complement of nutrients contained in the freshly picked tomato. Why? The inferior tomato was not given the chance to develop as nature intended. Anyone who has compared the taste of the two types can tell you which is superior. Many cooks describe the difference as being that one tastes like 'cardboard', with a mushy texture and sallow color, while the tomato of true food quality is bright, vibrant and full of juicy flavor.

When it comes to cooking, paying a little extra for quality is smart. A small dinner salad, made with organically grown produce that has not been sprayed with pesticides, picked unripe or injected with chemical coloring, tastes far better than a large dinner salad made with inferior ingredients. This means it's going to be a more pleasurable experience for the diner. We eat for the pleasure of the taste or at least we should!

The ultimate food quality of produce is also affected by preparation. Overcooked produce leaches out valuable nutrients. The nutritive content of produce may be reduced by as much as 90%, simply by overcooking. High temperatures destroy almost all of the vitamins A, C and E, which influences taste and texture as well. Try serving your produce raw, as appropriate, or lightly steamed, not boiled. Have you ever noticed how boiled broccoli tends to lose that vibrant green, turning an unappetizing shade of drab, green? This is a result of loss of food quality in terms of nutrients.

As for meats, organically raised meat does not contain hormones, added water or antibiotics. While this meat is more expensive, pound for pound, the meat is denser, with a decidedly 'cleaner' taste and firmer texture. As a result, a smaller portion fills you up and the superior taste is worth the price.

Use fresh cheeses rather than processed cheeses. Processed cheeses are generally made with oil. Read the label and see what the differences are in terms of the type and amount of fat content. Besides, fresh cheeses simply taste better.

Here's an easy way to demonstrate how food quality impacts your menus. Make one salad with supermarket produce and another with fresh, organically grown ingredients. Conduct your own taste test. Dress a couple of burgers with a slice of cheese, one fresh and the other processed. You'll both see and taste the difference. It becomes obvious that you get better value with high quality food. Try it once with a favorite recipe and you'll be a convert to the food quality approach to cooking!