Diamond in the Rough

When it comes to cooking and preparing a meal, you've heard it time and time again: "Presentation is everything." Well, having been around the block, I've observed that this little tid-bit of wisdom can also be applied to other aspects of life - specifically, relationships.

A great example is the fact that I hate cooked carrots. Raw? Fine. Crunchy, full of flavor.... great. Cooked? Ew. But some time back, I was presented with a side dish of carrots that changed all that. The carrots were of the miniature kind, both conventional orange along with a new variety, yellow. They were served glistening a bit, and steaming hot. They looked fantastic. I braved a taste and was very surprised to find that they had a pleasant texture (not too soft) and a nice flavor. But it was the color that attracted me. The presentation was responsible for my willingness to attempt to overcome my long-held bias against them.

Chocolate cream pie. I like it well enough, but I can think of a thousand other deserts that I'd choose over it. A typical serving of this can be found in any diner behind the counter in the desert case. Chocolate cream pie. Fine, but easily passed by. But when you're in a nice restaurant, and a waiter passes by with the same item served with the plate swirled with chocolate syrup and dusted with powdered sugar, and the pie topped with shaved chocolate and a single bright red cherry...

"Wow! I'll have a piece of that!"

Presentation is everything. Or is it?

Let's take one more good ol' American, traditional culinary dish, fresh dog shit. Now, I'm not sure how you prepare your dog shit, but I find that no matter what you do to it... sugar coat it, bread it and deep fry it... saute it with some peppers and onions and garnish with a sprig of parsley... shit is shit. Even strong additions like ginger, or cheddar cheese added to it will not result in making it's flavor any more pleasant. Shit is shit.

So is presentation everything? Well, it certainly can persuade you to give the already familiar and mundane another try where you normally wouldn't. It can be truly amazing how it can actually change the way you taste some foods. So if you're trying to get someone to sample your efforts with an open mind, you can start by presenting it in the most pleasing manner through adding some color to the dish, adding a garnish or pear it with something that simply makes it more attractive - more appealing to the eye.

But beware of that piece of shit. For beneath that whipped cream and mint leaf lies a plain old piece of shit. Under that golden, crispy, deep fried coating lurks a stinking, nasty lump of shit. And if you're not careful, and you go by presentation alone, you might find yourself biting into something that you thought was going to be simply wonderful only to find out that it was nothing but dressed up, run of the mill, somehow pleasantly smooth... but still, shit.