Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

It's a topic& question that is indeed on the minds of many, especially folks who are well versed and schooled in the world of food both artisanal and mainstream corporate. I so often find myself tensing up when I hear or read this question or response. Not because I do not find the topic debatable, because I do and I have my own pet peeves with the artisanal world producing substandard products. I am still a believer in the bigger picture and believe that we are in a moment in time where we are on the verge of a shift or tilt in our modern day thinking, especially here in the USA. The tilt to which I am referring is the idea that our foods should be a little less mainstream and corporate and a bit more artisanal. Now I am not saying I think every glass of milk we should be drinking should come from a cow some artisanal farmer is raising and the cow has to have a name like Dafadil and be stroked 5 times clockwise on the side of its head before being milked after it dines solely on organic alfalfa with a dusting of bee pollen, but I do think we need to have more artisanal food producers in our repertoire of choices in both the existing artisanal sectors (farmers markets, local farms, specialty grocers, etc) and in the mainstream sectors as well (supermarkets, chain restaurants etc.)

So back to the main topic idea: can serious eaters “assume that just because something is handmade or homemade by someone with the best of intentions that it’s going to be good?” And the answer of course as we all agree is no, they cannot assume and nor should they or better yet why would they? Serious eaters are typically food snobs of sorts and have typically a pretty good knowledge of the food world both modern and artisanal and they know they are not always guaranteed the path to the best every single time. As Ed states, you need three things :
• Experience: Which means time allowing for lots of trial and error and sufficient apprentice time
• Time: To understand how to make it good
• Knowledge: That is, you have to know how to do something, and when it's delicious
But without the trial and error chance and without the opportunity for feedback and improvements, many of the artisanal masters of today, would not exist. The profound disappointment is part of the process. Like choosing restaurants, movies and a host of other things. We take a chance and yes there are times, we want a Dr. Pepper and we 100% want it to taste just like we remember and just like we expect. But there are other times when we take a chance because sometimes we can have the exact opposite of a profound disappointment happen, and that is maybe just maybe the bacon or the jam, would have been the best you had ever had, and just maybe Ed & Vicky could have sat having their breakfast with the biggest smiles on their faces knowing they had just eaten the best bacon and jam of their lives. It is the risk we take and for all serious eaters, the pure act of the discussion is a good portion of the fun. So in the end the worst bacon and jam ever, sure has stirred up a plethora of conversations.