"Whatchu
missin' on?" the cashier asked the Uber Eats driver waiting to fulfill the
rest of his delivery's order. Under my mask, cheek muscles pulled my mouth into
a tiny, amused smile. What it must be like to hear something like that when
English isn't your first language! It only took a second to finish the order
and I was next.
"What
can I get you?"
"Hi. Can I get a Baja
Gordita, a Crunchwrap Supreme, and a burrito Supreme?" Only after I heard
my personal lunch order said out loud did I consider it's ridiculousness.
"That's
one Cheesy Gordita Crunch, one Crunchwrap Supreme, and one burrito
Supreme?"
"...Yup!"
There was a split second that my mind noted that my order hadn't been taken correctly,
but even quicker was the realization that it didn't matter. Really, the entire Taco Bell menu is just
permutations of the same seasoned beef goo, shredded lettuce and cheese,
flavored/unflavored sour cream sauce, and hard or soft tortilla shells. I
wondered if the cashier purposefully repeated my order
incorrectly, as if to test the
system. As if she wasn't able to outright tell me that I had basically ordered
the same thing, folded three different ways...
"Well, congratulations,
you got the job!"
"Oh, thank you."
"Now listen.
You're about to see the behind the scenes of how everything is made here at Taco
Bell and how dreadfully similar all of our products are. And it's the main rule
that you don't point this out to the customer! If you do, you will be
fired."
...and
now, instead of pointing out how dumb my order (and any/every order at Taco
Bell), she was just testing to see if it even registered for people. Or, maybe
all Taco Bell's customers know what they're ordering is all the same shit in
different shapes...
I told
this story to Katy, asking her what Taco Bell can teach us about the way we're
willing to eat food. Her reply nailed it.
"Food
is about texture almost as much as it is about flavor. So if the textures are
different, the food can be pretty different!"
I've
never given texture that much credit before, but she's right. And it's been really
interesting now considering cooking from a textures point of view rather than a
flavors point of view. When you really gush about food, the texture is so often
the part that is highlighted. "That steak was like butter." "You
know why Philly has such good sandwiches? Good bread. Sarcone's? The best!"
Crispy
skin on fatty pork belly.
Hands
down, Ben & Jerry's has the best 'stuff to ice cream ratio.
The
pasta was cooked perfectly al dente.
See?
Sure, I have my favorite flavors, and it's fun when a flavor is done correctly,
but cooking for texture seems more interesting. I've never thought about this
as a way to make food, but I'm curious. I think it could quickly step into
fancy food art that looks nice, but hard to eat. Or delicate sweet
potato foam isn't actually
satiating. With more time now dedicated to prepping and
cooking food, I wonder if that
tangent could help when thinking of new things for
the menu.
