So this really awesome person (me) had this idea that every MoFoer should do a palate challenge! What's a palate challenge, you ask? It's a blind taste test. You have to guess the food given to you by taste and taste alone. I always love watching chefs do it on reality television. It's hilarious how wrong they can be. Ladies and gentlemen, I laugh no more. A palate challenge is hard! But you too can get in on the fun. In these 5 easy steps.
Step 1-Make a list of a bunch of ingredients you have in your house. Separate them into 5 groups: fruits, veggies, herbs/spices, protein, and liquid. Don't worry about being technical. I don't care if you throw tomatoes in with your veggies. Have a partner choose at least ten of the items to prepare for the taste test.
Step 2-Wake your husband from his afternoon nap so he's all Grumpyface McGee and ask if he'll hand you the food to taste so you don't know what you are eating beforehand.
Step 3-Blindfold yourself and walk around like friggin dork with your boobs hanging out. Seriously, WTF?!
Step 4-Grab the food and try to guess what it is. Make sure to use containers and try not to be sniffing them like they're a fine wine and you're a top-o-the-line d-bag. We used mini foil cupcake liners for our test. Nut cups would work or even condiment bowls. For liquids, I advise using something solid. Also, make sure your partner marks which ones you get correct/incorrect.
Step 5-Marvel at your awesomeness for partaking in the ultimate food nerd meme. I expect everybody to get on this STAT! Sorry, I've been dealing with CPR training all week and I like to think that I'm in an extended episode of Scrubs.
I ended up trying 20 things. Out of the 20, I got 16 right! Rock. I mistook pear for nectarine and apple for pear. And, apparently, radishes taste like spicy carrots.
Honestly, this thing is fool proof if the person helping you can't tell a walnut from an olive. My husband couldn't even tell me what an almond was when he saw it (I KNOW!) so I chopped up everything I could think of and made him a freaking diagram of each group. I was sure to have way more than needed because I knew what I was chopping. It worked beautifully that way.
Here's a list of things to taste but the possibilities are truly endless: mushrooms, spinach, romaine, carrot, radish, kale, red chard,celery, nectarine, tomato, pear, dates, avocado, apple, raisins, mango, cucumber, nuts, nut butters, tempeh, seitan, tofu, beans, capers, dill relish, cilantro, parsley, chives, green onion, olives, mint, vinegars, oils, mustards, ketchup, agave, brown rice syrup, worcestershire, etc. You can play around with preparation too(dried, canned, fresh).
So to simplify this. For the vegan palate challenge, have a partner help you do a blind taste test on at least 10 items. Post your score and mock those who think olive oil is tahini! It will be greatness. Also, when you take your blindfold off everything looks like this:
Oh, and I am totally drinking an apple mojito right now but I'm so freaking tired that I'm blogging about it tomorrow. Later MoFos!
15 comments:
OMG! That palate test sounds like SO MUCH FUN! I am so having to do this with my mom - she's vegan too! Thanks for the fab idea, and the comment!!
Yah, I've eaten the cutlets two days in a row now for 4 meals. Wow good! Put it (cold) on a veggie sandwich today and it ROCKED! :)
This sounds like a lot of fun! I hope I can find time (and a partner) to try it out. Especially the foolish, blindfolded wandering!
God Mo - you make me laugh so much!
My husband already thinks I've lost the plot so this should be any easy one to get him to help me on. What I really really need is a group of real life vegans who are as MoFo obsessed as I am.
:)
This sounds so fun! Did your hubby kick the garbage can each time you were wrong?
This is so freaking genius. And my favorite Top Chef challenge!
It was fun! My husband started laughing at me when I was tasting. Red wine vinegar is so not a great follow up to dates. Blech.
And now I wish I would have had him call me an "Imbecile!" using his best impression of Gordon Ramsay. Although, his British accent usually sounds like a cross between a horrible Canadian impression mixed with a little Bostonian.
I definitely have to get my act together to try this. Thanks for the step by step directions!
Look at you! 16 out of 20!!!
What a great idea.. sounds like fun!
This is such a great idea! And I was totally laughing out loud throughout this post!
it sounds fun but seeing a pic of you all blindfolded just put it over the edge
That sounds like so much fun! It's almost like a game. haha. I would love to try this with my boyfriend.
That sounds like it was so fun to do! How did you prep the spicy carrots?
This sounds kind of awesome. I could might maybe convince Jon to do it with me - he loves laughing at me, after all. But how to find the time with my freaking work schedule?! Hmm, maybe it could be our 41-month-a-versary date...
Oh that looks like so much fun. This would be a great pot luck party game!
That was hilarious! Thank you for the laughs. And look at you with you're blindfold on? I can't imagine your husband was grumpy for too long, LOL! Hope my hubby or my mother will help me do a palate challenge soon. I'm more than a little nervous about having food put in my mouth without me being able to see it. But nothing ventured, nothing gained.
Faith
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