290591 Fri Oct 18 18:42:19 -0700 2002 3 27 General Chowhounding Topics 0 1577918 Some of you are going to think I'm sick, but... if anyone who is especially bold and disciplined is looking for a truly mind-blowing food experience, try fasting for a few days. This summer I took a course in a primitive skills/survival school; a motto there was (in contrast to chowhound's) "eat to live, not live to eat". Not surprisingly, we did not have much food. On returning, with heightened sense of taste and smell, eating became magical, as if for the first time again. A simple plain baked potato was heavenly, with its crumbling starchy creaminess and the leathery skin, at first dry and rough on the tongue, then turning soft and chewy, with a delicate earthiness permeating it. I tell you it was better than any Luger's steak, any banh mi, anyone's favorite sushi bar sushi.... Fri Oct 18 18:42:19 -0700 2002 0 RHC 1 1577919 Ooooooh... I believe you. Having the absolute luxury (not) of being in a hospital for a while and on a liquid diet, when I could eat, hospital food tasted (and felt on the tongue) wonderful. Fri Oct 18 18:45:26 -0700 2002 1577918 0 TR 1 1577924 While you have a valid point, I find that abstinence can sometimes fool the tongue into thinking that what it's tasting is manna when in fact, it is merely good. Sort of like when you're really hungry, and even supermarket sushi or a big Mac tastes so good whereas, in a less starved state, you would appreciate that what you're eating is not in the pantheon of great food. Fri Oct 18 19:13:24 -0700 2002 1577918 0 ju 1 1578523 I hear you, RHC. I do a nine-day fast twice a year -- not cold turkey, but tapering off, eating more and more simply and lightly until I don't need anything but water for the last couple of days. Even just a few days into the fast, a spoonful of plain oatmeal or a slice of apple can be so delicious and satisfying. Those things DO belong in the pantheon of great foods, and it's too easy to forget it. And after the fast is over, I have the pleasure of approaching all my favorite, more elaborate and highly flavored foods with fresh tastebuds. Fri Oct 25 15:03:59 -0700 2002 1577918 0 C. Fox