What should an ideal food writer do?
One thing I really enjoy about my job is that I don’t just write restaurant criticism. I also write about agriculture, our local farmers, and policies that come up in agriculture. Because food is really connected to the entire community, it’s important for a food writer to show how the food relates to other aspects of our lives, whether it be about agriculture, economics, or the stories of people who are making and growing their food products. Also at the most basic, you have to describe taste. How do you approach food descriptions? One of the courses I took in college was called “Sensory Evaluation of Food.” We started off by breaking down the basic tastes and learning to tell the difference between salty, bitter, sour and sweet. Then we built up to tasting cheeses, coffee and chocolate, and talking about the different flavors and aromas of each product. That helped me develop a vocabulary I use a lot when I’m thinking about any kind of product at a restaurant or anywhere else. In bot
