Seeing It Happen

Before I actually start cooking a meal I have already completed it in my mind and have visualized each step; I have worked out the kinks and I can see the final product. This is one of the most overlooked parts of the process. In fact…it’s not included in any recipe I know of but it is one of the most powerful ingredients you can ever use. You need to know what you are working towards in order to get there in the short period of time you have to cook. Critical points in the cooking process come and go in a flash but being a few steps ahead will stretch those moments out long enough for you to be an active part of them.

Let's talk skirt steak - visualize the texture of the steak and the chunks of sea salt that will still be in tact after searing. See the juices releasing, taste how salty and fatty they are. The combination of that and the citrus-charged chimichurri is going to alter someones state of mind. See the look on their face, hear the silence at the table and feel the shift...because It’s already happened. In this case you are actually working backwards, recreating something. You not only have a road map but you can make the kinds of adjustments that come from a second or tenth run depending on your ability to focus.