Shopping

Everybody knows that women adore to shop... no, it’s not only a matter of taste; in fact it is a necessity, something undisputed and I believe even genetic! It’s no different with me, but the good thing is that I fulfill my needs making the gastronomic purchases for my events. Knowing how to buy is very important, and is where the work of a chef starts, since the final result depends on the used ingredients. But much people don’t give to account of the talent and necessary training for accomplishing this task. In the first days of cooking school in NY we were presented all the ingredients, had to observe their characteristics and make a chart. At that time this activity seemed silly, but in fact they made us begin attempting to the details and stimulated our senses; essential starting points for a good purchase.
Many popular rules exist to choose each product. For example, to know if the pineapple is good we must pull out a leaf, if it feels easy it means that the fruit is mature. It functions generically, but not with perfection, because there are some degrees of maturity, the fruit can be almost right or even starting to go bad. Therefore for me there are three pillars to detect the quality of the ingredients in the food world: smell, aspect and consistency. The taste would be important too, but normally we cannot eat stuff before we buy them. To use this rule you cannot be ashamed, you need to observe, smell and to touch everything! Another tip is to buy the products according to the seasons. And it’s good to know that to buy better you have to practice a lot, which is good to exorcise the avid consumer that exists in you!