"Oh, this is the start of something good... Don't you agree?" -Gavin DeGraw
Welcome to Operation Degustation, a blog that marries my love of all things food and all things written. Definition 6a of Merriam-Webster's online dictionary explains "operation" in the way that I mean it: "a usually military action, mission, or maneuver including its planning and execution." Wikipedia defines "degustation" as "a culinary term meaning 'a careful, appreciative tasting of various foods' and focusing on the gustatory system, the senses, high culinary art and good company." That sounds fabulous to me! As a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America, I've definitely heard the word before, but never truly understood it. This I seek to do through cooking, eating, and writing, which are probably my top 3 interests... But this isn't a dating site, so I digress. The origin of the word "degustation" is French (just add a few accent marks, and voila! French. By the way, there should be an accent grave over that a in "voila", but, um, I'm on a laptop and can't figure it out... haha...), and at some point, I would love to travel there since I figure that if they came up with the word, they must truly understand it. For now, I'm a struggling college student who is working and trying to pay off all of these debts that I've accrued in the process of becoming a grownup! This leaves little time and money for fine dining, or fine ingredients, so I have to get creative. I love to cook, but always have SO many leftovers since it's only my roommate and I, so I'll address that problem as well, hopefully with weekly dinner parties with friends! I live in such an adorable part of San Diego that's full of little restaurants, food markets, farmers' markets, and specialty shops- a veritable chef and foodie mecca. I'm absolutely going to explore what the neighborhood has to offer my taste buds. I'll touch on budget shopping, too, since all you need in order to turn some plain ol' staples into a great meal is creativity and flavor. Flavor is also crucial to the field of Nutrition, which my second degree (that I'm working on now) will be in, so I'll touch on using flavor to make healthy food less scary. I'm so excited to embark on this culinary journey, attempting to put into words the flavors, flavor combos, and new ingredients that I discover and experience along the way!
