How to eat the perfect bite

 I have been teased about being a meticulous eater all my life.  When I was a kid, my dad would always tease me about having a “scraped clean” plate. So my fascination with food, I guess you can say, started when I was a kid.  My mom was always big on having every food category on the plate: starch, vegetables, protein and usually a dessert after, (even if it was the left over rice to make rice pudding).   Another thing she ingrained in us, was to eat what was put before us and chew slowly, which sad to say, the last one did not stay with me into adulthood.  I never felt forced to eat my food, I think it taught me to appreciate what I had and what made eating what was put before me even easier, my mom is a damn good cook. 

So with this well constructed plate of edible items that compliment each other, I assumed they would be best eaten together.  The first step of accomplishing a perfect bite, is cutting a small piece of the offered protein, second, a piece of the chosen vegetable, both skewered onto the fork.  Try to get them both close in size so nothing is dominating in flavor and are able to fit an etiquette amount in your mouth.  Then comes the starch, which usually are potatoes or rice, which would have to go on top of the fork, and last, the best part, is the sauce or juices, that usually accompanies the protein.  Run the well constructed fork of perfection through the sauce. 

When you bite into this equally portioned art piece, your senses explode, you taste every flavor that is so beautifully melded together for this dish and you realize, how could you have enjoyed a bite any other way?  So now that the perfect bite has been perfected and it's toward the end of the meal, what is left is a "scraped clean" plate. 

Now there are some exceptions to the rule, for example, spaghetti, which is a dish already melded together for your enjoyment, just sop up the rest of the sauce with a piece of french bread.  The all amazing casserole dishes that includes everything but the kitchen sink.

If you want to try this at home or even better when you go out to eat, generally chef's will have equal amounts on your plate. Get equal portions of each item on your plate, try to construct your perfect bite and let it rock your world.  Another bonus to this way of eating is it will slow down your eating and make you fuller faster.  It's an all around perfect meal.