Tag Archives: Food

August 30, 2013 · 9:04 am

Cookbooks

This Foodie Friday, let’s talk about cookbooks. I have…well, a lot. Probably 50 linear feel of cookbooks – maybe more.

cookbook shelf 1

(Photo credit: chotda)

There are hundreds and they’re separated by cuisine (if you call BBQ a cuisine) – Italian here, Cajun there, vegan, baking books – dozens of classifications. On the one hand, I’m never at a loss for inspiration when I come home with a bunch of great ingredients and no clue what I’m going to do with them. On the other hand, it’s really overwhelming.  Why make one meatball recipe when there are 45 variations at your fingertips?

The odd thing is that I don’t generally cook out of these books much any more.  Oh sure, on the rare occasions when I bake something, a good cookbook is a necessity.  After all, that kind of chemistry is not something one does off the top of one’s head.  Even so, I use them to master techniques. While it’s fun to  produce a perfect copy of something tired and true out of a favorite book,most of the time I’m  turning to a familiar volume for inspiration or reassurance.  Which is really the business point as well.

There are business cookbooks.  There are volumes that outline everything from sound fiscal policy to managing employees to developing new products and services.  In  a way, I hope that this screed serves as a daily mini-volume of inspiration.  For some things  – accounting rules, for example – it’s almost like baking.  Follow the rules or you’ll end up in trouble.  In other areas, follow the business recipe any of the great sources lay out and you’ll probably do pretty well especially if you’ve got great people and products with which to work.  Greatness, however, is something that you won’t find in a cookbook.

Many of the cookbooks on the market today are dumbed down (thanks, Food Network).  Follow the recipes they contain and you’ll present relatively good, if uninspired, food.  Using the flavor profiles as the inspiration isn’t a bad idea but just as writers use a dictionary and thesaurus, a cookbook should serve as a reference volume, not as a script.  It’s the same in business.  Books can inspire and serve as an adjunct to creative thinking based on sound fundamentals..  They’re tools, not crutches, and brilliant business pole don’t get their answers in books, because the great recipes are truly one’s own.

I can’t imagine not having not having the resources my cookbooks provide.  You should read as many business books are you have time to absorb.  Then distill them into your own recipes and make something great.

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August 23, 2013 · 9:48 am

Perfect Pitch

We’ve come to the end of another week and so it’s Foodie Friday time.  Today, I’m going to make up for omitting the TunesDay post last Tuesday and combine music and food (and yes, they of course lead to business).  Perfect pitch is the ability of a person to listen to a piece of music and tell you (or play) in what key the piece is written without the benefit of hearing a reference tone – a known note to which they can compare it.  In other words, it’s much easier to know that something is written in A minor if you hear a Middle C before it plays.

Graphic details the nomenclature of the musica...

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I think there is perfect pitch in the kitchen as well.  There are those cooks who can recreate a dish or break it down having tasted it once.  They also seem to know what the folks eating their food want on a plate.  They can “hear”  the palates of their customers perfectly.  Food is very much like music in that when a note is even slightly off it’s noticeable and off-putting.  Great cooks keep the flavors in harmony and in tune.

In both cases, having perfect pitch assures that the harmonies are tight.  The Beach Boys or Crosby, Stills, and Nash are perfect examples.  The harmonious mix of flavors in a well-executed braise is another.  The overtones – harmonics that surround the musical or culinary compositions – resonate perfectly.  Think about Jimi Hendrix’s brilliant use of feedback (overtones, kids) and you’ll get an idea of what I mean.  Done badly, it’s just awful.  Done right, it’s a classic.

As businesspeople, most of us aren’t born with perfect pitch.  I certainly wasn’t in any of the three roles – musician, cook, or executive.  What we can do is work on having perfect relative pitch.  Once we get some sort of reference tone we can take it from there with confidence.  We need to train our ears to find that tone and then proceed keeping it in mind.  In business, that tone comes from customers.  Once we have it, we should have already trained ourselves to listen to the harmonics and make sure they’re in tune as well.

Success in music, the kitchen, and the boardroom all come from listening with a trained ear.   If we have the gift of perfect pitch, it’s an invaluable asset.  If we don’t, we need to train ourselves to mimic perfect pitch behavior based on a solid starting point and never lose sight of that reference point.  Hard to do, I know, but the rewards are worth it.   Wouldn’t you agree?

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August 16, 2013 · 10:53 am

Supermarket Eyes

Foodie Friday (yay!) and I want to write about a topic inspired by my local supermarket.

The interior of a T & T store

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I know what you’re thinking – awfully boring for the readers looking for a cooking tip or at least another place to complain about my recipes.  Stay with me – it’s kind of an interesting story that related to food and to business.

I’ve been going to that same supermarket for at least a decade.  I know the store like the back of my hand.  Or at least I did until a week or so ago.  They’re doing some sort of work and “improving” the store layout.   You can bet corporate management is at work here – I’m sure there are a bunch studies on shopper movement and purchasing that are in play. Most of the shoppers seem to use a hand-held scanner which traces their movements while shopping in addition to allowing a quick getaway once shopping is over via self checkout.  That data might have something to do with the changes as well.

Why I bring this up is that I noticed something while shopping in the “new”  store.  Since I no longer knew what was in each aisle or where the things I needed were, I paid a ton of attention to every shelf.  In fact, I discovered a couple of interesting food items that had probably been there for a long time.  I’d never had occasion to be or look where they were so I missed them.

That’s the business point too.  Most of us go about our days as if we’re in that very familiar store.  We know where the things are that get us through our days  but because of that we’re a bit oblivious to other things all around us that might be useful.  We need to make a mental change and approach our business lives as if we’re in that reconfigured store.  That small change in perspective can result in a big change in results.

Happy hunting!

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