food for the senses

I'm a big believer in the idea that food can feed all five senses. And though of course the senses of taste and touch are paramount in importance to me as a cook and an eater, lately I've been obsessing about the sound of food. How often do we take a moment and listen to our food? And I'm not just talking about the sound of Rice Crispies or Pop Rocks. When I pull a freshly baked loaf of bread out of the oven, I lean in and listen to that faint crackle as it continues to cook. That first burst of sizzle when the onions hit the hot oil, the cracking of the crust on top of a creme brulee, even the sound of the hot water pouring into the coffee pot, it's all like music to me.

One of the things I've noticed in the more recent years of cooking shows is that more attention seems to be paid to the sounds of cooking that in the past. I think it is one of those things that makes a cooking show so relaxing. The sound of peeling the paper skin off of an onion, the sound of chopping it up, the sound of gently dropping the pieces into a bowl. Does that make me an obsessed person? Is it because, as a musician, I'm especially attuned to sound? Perhaps, but all I really know is that sometimes just listening to the sound of cooking can satiate me, and you have to admit that's probably a little better for my waistline.