it is probably no surprise for me to mention that I like food… I like everything about it, growing it, buying it, making reading about it, writing about it… oh and eating it. One of the things which is important to me in my enjoyment of food is something which isn’t often mentioned, but which, to me is as important (well almost) as the smell, the flavour or the look of what I am eating. The texture and feel in my mouth of my food is really important; one of the reasons I like Powters sausages is that they have a good texture, not too smooth and toothpasty, not too lumpy or gristly, they have bite and chew… oh and a superb flavour! I’m not very keen on yoghurt because of its texture, and many people don’t like liver or mushrooms, again because of what they feel like in the mouth.
There was a great article in the paper today by Bee Wilson; she writes an interesting column called Kitchen Thinker, and she covers all sorts of subjects, and today it was the texture of food, which is where “clidgy” (the texture of half melted cheese that clings to the teeth), “suent” (agreeably smooth), “grumous” (a semi-solid mass) and “lardaceous” (lardlike or fatty)” come from. The terms were from a book by Josephine Emlee called ‘Cooking for Texture‘, and they are so apt, aren’t they?! Another book Bee Wilson mentions is ‘Coi: Stories and Recipes‘ by Daniel Patterson, a chef who talks about matching textures so the person eating the food will most enjoy what is served… Bee Wilson quotes him on duck tongues… I’m not actually sure anything would make me want to eat duck tongue, but you never know! Patterson makes a good point that a particular texture can be exactly what you want from something, but disgusting in something else: “graininess is desirable in parmesan, but a disaster in hollandaise. Waxy potatoes are divine but waxy chocolate is horrid.”
Read Bee Wilson’s article here:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/foodanddrink/10604062/The-importance-of-texture-in-food.html
Lois Elsden 
I have to admit I have never in my life (until this point) heard the words: Clidgy, suent and grumous.
I do like food and I kind of like to cook it (sort of, kind of, okay, maybe not really… ) lol – Love food, though everything I cook is like an X-File.
As for duck Tongue – No Way, lol
Miss Lou
x
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Oh, that mention of waxy chocolate reminded me of one of the most revolting things I’ve ever eaten: Russian chocolate dating back to before the iron curtain came down. Our editor had been to Moscow and, meaning well, brought back boxes of chocolate for the “office ladies”. The texture of that chocolate is hard to describe…am sure it must have been several years old, even though he’d obviously bought it “fresh” from a large department store (or iron curtain equivalent). Grainy, waxy and nowhere near grumous…
Thanks for this enjoyable entry into my foodie vocabulary notebook.
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That sounds repulsive! One texture which surprised me was when I was with a Chines friend and a dish was put on the table which she assured me I wouldn’t as a westerner like, I tried it and did like it very much and thought it was cabbage pickled in a strange but interesting way… it was jellyfish…
Have you come across Bee Wilson before? She writes and excellent column!
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No, I haven’t so thanks for the culinary tip! When I was growing up at the Baltic Sea coast we were often inundated with jelly fish during summer, but I never felt the urge to eat the translucent little blighters. What an experience!
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