Testing
History has tales of kings and other persons in high places who would not touch the food they were served until it was considered to be safe.
I guess food poisoning was a popular way of ridding the country of a person of power. So their fears were not unwarranted.
In order to assure the king (or duke or whomever) of the safety of their meal, a young, healthy male (usually) was assigned the position of taste tester. His job was simply to stand beside the king's chair at mealtimes and to sample a bite of each and every dish placed before the king. This job came with several nice perks: a comfortable home, nice outfits (as he must be clad appropriately to be in the king's presence), and best of all, he got to eat some delicious gourmet meals well- bites of them anyway. In picture books I noticed these young chaps were generally small and slender, so perhaps they only needed a few morsels from each platter to be sated.
At any rate, this position of honor did also come with some perils.
Savoring the first bite from the fragrant platter could bring momentary pleasure to the tongue followed shortly by most unpleasant spasms, pain and rapid demise.
Now we are bombarded with commercials, books, classes, ads on how to keep our foodstuff safe. (not necessarily from would-be murderers)
Fruits and vegetables are scrubbed with little brushes specially designed for the task. Food thermometers test every item for correct doneness. Nothing sits out on the picnic table or the kitchen counter for more than an hour any more. Properly wrapped and covered, the casseroles are relegated to the refrigerator the moment they begin to lose heat. I am not saying this is in any way wrong, but it does make me wonder how there can be so many my age and older still living when we used to have the Thanksgiving dinner sitting out all afternoon on the table where we would pick a bite of turkey, a nibble of stuffing throughout the afternoon. Anyway the point is, we don't have need of taste testers for safety reasons now. Code dates on commercially prepared products caution the user to toss it if the date has expired. Foods prepared from scratch at home are not kept long either.
But all of a sudden---I am hearing of a turn-around. Are testers in vogue once more?
Melissa was doing a check of the contents of her refrigerator. Her dog sat near watching her with hopeful eyes. There in the back was Sunday's left-over meat loaf. Melissa pulled it out, unwrapped the foil covering and sniffed. It smelled good. It looked fine. Then Melissa broke off a small piece and popped it into her mouth. It tasted good. So she took it to the counter where the dog's dish awaited and breaking up the meatloaf in small bites, she placed it in the dog's dish.
Sean was checking the contents of his refrigerator when he discovered the nice steak he had grilled expecting a friend who had not come and the steak had not been eaten. That was two days ago. Marinated in garlic and herbs, grilled to a medium rare perfection, certainly too good to be wasted.
But was it safe to eat? The Boxer who sat attentively watching, saliva beginning. to form at his lips, was hopeful. Sean cut off a sizeable piece. He ate it. Then a couple more pieces just to be sure. After 30 minutes he told his dog, "I still feel fine so I guess
it's safe for you". And the dog had steak for supper.
So now our dogs are not only wearing designer clothing, being bathed with organic shampoos and conditioners, and sleeping on goose down cushions, they also have their own taste testers--just to be sure nothing tainted will slip down their throats.
I find this pretty amusing. Also rather sweet.
While I personally don't go to that extreme, in fact I seldom give any human food to my dog, I don't sample her food before handing down the bowl either.
Maybe that is why so many dogs are named King, Princess, Duke??
I guess food poisoning was a popular way of ridding the country of a person of power. So their fears were not unwarranted.
In order to assure the king (or duke or whomever) of the safety of their meal, a young, healthy male (usually) was assigned the position of taste tester. His job was simply to stand beside the king's chair at mealtimes and to sample a bite of each and every dish placed before the king. This job came with several nice perks: a comfortable home, nice outfits (as he must be clad appropriately to be in the king's presence), and best of all, he got to eat some delicious gourmet meals well- bites of them anyway. In picture books I noticed these young chaps were generally small and slender, so perhaps they only needed a few morsels from each platter to be sated.
At any rate, this position of honor did also come with some perils.
Savoring the first bite from the fragrant platter could bring momentary pleasure to the tongue followed shortly by most unpleasant spasms, pain and rapid demise.
Now we are bombarded with commercials, books, classes, ads on how to keep our foodstuff safe. (not necessarily from would-be murderers)
Fruits and vegetables are scrubbed with little brushes specially designed for the task. Food thermometers test every item for correct doneness. Nothing sits out on the picnic table or the kitchen counter for more than an hour any more. Properly wrapped and covered, the casseroles are relegated to the refrigerator the moment they begin to lose heat. I am not saying this is in any way wrong, but it does make me wonder how there can be so many my age and older still living when we used to have the Thanksgiving dinner sitting out all afternoon on the table where we would pick a bite of turkey, a nibble of stuffing throughout the afternoon. Anyway the point is, we don't have need of taste testers for safety reasons now. Code dates on commercially prepared products caution the user to toss it if the date has expired. Foods prepared from scratch at home are not kept long either.
But all of a sudden---I am hearing of a turn-around. Are testers in vogue once more?
Melissa was doing a check of the contents of her refrigerator. Her dog sat near watching her with hopeful eyes. There in the back was Sunday's left-over meat loaf. Melissa pulled it out, unwrapped the foil covering and sniffed. It smelled good. It looked fine. Then Melissa broke off a small piece and popped it into her mouth. It tasted good. So she took it to the counter where the dog's dish awaited and breaking up the meatloaf in small bites, she placed it in the dog's dish.
Sean was checking the contents of his refrigerator when he discovered the nice steak he had grilled expecting a friend who had not come and the steak had not been eaten. That was two days ago. Marinated in garlic and herbs, grilled to a medium rare perfection, certainly too good to be wasted.
But was it safe to eat? The Boxer who sat attentively watching, saliva beginning. to form at his lips, was hopeful. Sean cut off a sizeable piece. He ate it. Then a couple more pieces just to be sure. After 30 minutes he told his dog, "I still feel fine so I guess
it's safe for you". And the dog had steak for supper.
So now our dogs are not only wearing designer clothing, being bathed with organic shampoos and conditioners, and sleeping on goose down cushions, they also have their own taste testers--just to be sure nothing tainted will slip down their throats.
I find this pretty amusing. Also rather sweet.
While I personally don't go to that extreme, in fact I seldom give any human food to my dog, I don't sample her food before handing down the bowl either.
Maybe that is why so many dogs are named King, Princess, Duke??
Comments
Post a Comment