Creating Flavour: Epiphany #2: Colour

It's not my intention to be pretentious here, but food is art. A gastronomic experiment is creative expression. Yet unlike most art forms it has the advantage of olfactory and gustative dimensions. But that's not to take away from the quintessential artistic element: the visual.

What I found recently, and the reason for this epiphany, is that colour and flavour are intrinsically connected. I always knew it, but the fact that colour has a bearing on taste smacked me round the chops when I made this. It is a dish composed of a kaleidoscope of colours and flavours. Most notably, avocado and lime.

Two bright, bold green objects, avocado and lime. And they taste green too. Colour has more than just a visual impact. Different colours resonate with us emotionally and gustatitively too. The standout ingredient of this year's Masterchef was mango, a fruit known for it sweet juiciness, but also it's vivid and changing colours.

A large chunk of flavour is in smell, they say. I say, it's in colour too. My food will from now on keep this in mind - colour and flavour are one and the same.

Creating Flavour: Epiphany #1: Chicken

Have you noticed that things don't taste of very much? I swear I can actually taste the manure and fertilizer on fruit and vegetables these days above their natural flavours. Meat is particularly bad from supermarkets. Putting a picture of the farmer on the packaging doesn't excuse the fact that it's bland and of poor quality.

I only know this because yesterday I had an epiphany. I stopped into my local farm shop and bought a chicken breast. This was no normal chicken breast. It had been expertly butchered - it was obvious from the fact that the wing had been left in tact, and the skin was taut. This chicken also led a happy life. It was full and meaty, not in some GM-experiment kind of way, but because, like me, it had eaten good food all its life.

I bought one - 2.95. Not bad for a quality bit of meat, but a lot more expensive than Sainsbury's 4 for 3 pounds budget range. It was worth every penny. I cooked it in loads of garlic and lemon and butter and herbs, yet the meat was still tastable through the other flavours. I had fried it and roasted it, yet it was as succulent and tender as a peach from the Ardeche.

I know we can't all always afford to buy this stuff, or we don't have the time to go Farm Shops. But the difference was mind-blowing. This was the best chicken I'd ever had. Worth 2.95? I think so.