# Question about Taste Testing



## Leah Walker (Nov 26, 2018)

First allow me to say I am very glad to find this forum! 

Now, on to the question. 

I joined an online forum for those seeking to get healthy and lose weight. In the course of participating, I mentioned that chefs and cooks all test their food at some point. That the taste test counts. I also recalled that my Mom, who was a taste tester for Nabisco many years back, would spit out the food after tasting it (the company provided them disposable napkins and finger bowls with towels). 

I was literally castigated for even suggesting people do this as it was an "eating disorder". 

So here's my question: do other chefs and cooks take a bite and spit it out? I'm checking for flavor, not eating to gain nutrition at the point of the testing. So I would think it safe.


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## dectra (Nov 2, 2016)

The only way I'd "spit it out" would be if it had turned (as in gone bad). It's food, you're supposed to eat it.


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## Chef Brian Marqus (Nov 26, 2018)

depends wine only if it a lot of tasting /food your insult the maker


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## halb (May 25, 2015)

Just how much tasting is going on that anyone would be concerned about calories- unless there is an eating disorder? I have never or seen food spit out unless it was bad.


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## sgsvirgil (Mar 1, 2017)

Generally speaking, when we taste food, we're tasting for salt/seasoning, texture, sweetness, mouth feel etc. 99.9999% of the time, we are doing this in the kitchen which means we are not going to spit out food unless its gone bad or we have a very warped sense of hygiene.


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## phatch (Mar 29, 2002)

In commercial production it's pretty common to not swallow from what I've seen and read. In a restaurant or home setting the practice is different.


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## sgsvirgil (Mar 1, 2017)

There's a punny in there somewhere.......


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## chrislehrer (Oct 9, 2008)

It's all about quantity and booze. If you keep both small, just swallow. If you're tasting booze or something like Hollandaise sauce, go ahead and spit.


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## dectra (Nov 2, 2016)

Chef Brian Marqus said:


> depends wine only if it a lot of tasting /food your insult the maker


It's pretty clear the conversation is in regards to FOOD, not wine.


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## meezenplaz (Jan 31, 2012)

Ive done both.
Frozen food factory, we in QC Performed organaleptic evaluations on all batches.
Including tasting. We were looking for certain things, but largely
microbial contamination i.e., gone bad, which happened now and then.
So we generally didnt swallow the sample. Bear in mind this was fresh product
imported into the food lab from the production line, not done in the actual
prep/cooking environment.

Tasting in a restaurant cookline is a totally different animal. To expectorate in an active
kitchen is unacceptable IMO. In my opinion a com kitchen should be prepared at any
time to accept a tour by both health officials and customers alike.
And how many customers would appreciate a chef tasting a sauce
or spice rub etc then spitting it out anywhere near where their food is prepared?

Additionally, unlike in the lab where a simple tongue contact was sufficient,
when tasting a kitchen sauce etc, swallowing is kind of necessary to get
the entire tasting experience in most cases. One example might be what
we call finish, or aftertaste. You generally dont experience that if you dont
swallow; you therefore cant evaluate that aspect.


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## Leah Walker (Nov 26, 2018)

phatch said:


> In commercial production it's pretty common to not swallow from what I've seen and read. In a restaurant or home setting the practice is different.


Thank you. Yes I am talking commercial production here.


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## meezenplaz (Jan 31, 2012)

If youre talking about commercial production, thats way different than addressing and polling 
cooks and chefs, to whom your original question was posed.


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## Leah Walker (Nov 26, 2018)

Ah okay. I had also read that people like Giada who is a food network cook spits out her food as well. Is that merely rumor?


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## meezenplaz (Jan 31, 2012)

No, thats showmanship. :lol:


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## dectra (Nov 2, 2016)

meezenplaz said:


> No, thats showmanship. :lol:


Or it's bulimia. She seems to want to keep that 'skinny cook' look.


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## meezenplaz (Jan 31, 2012)

Funny you mention that.....

When I was sous for the banquet room, there was an employee who loved my cooking (of course!) . 
She was about 30, and really thin. I'd set aside special plates for her, she'd eat tons of stuff. 
I finally made the mistake of asking her, in a group setting no less, how she stays so thin eating so 
much rich food. She non chalantly answered, "oh i just go in and throw it all, up". 
I honestly thought she was was joking at first, but realized thru listening to her friends etc, she was 
being straight about it. 
Couldnt bring myself to set aside her special dishes anymore, my heart just wasnt in it. lol


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