Saving the best till last: how to make the most out of a meal

As we gaze across a hearty meal, taking in the aromas and admiring the cross sections, perhaps they’re even piling on top of each other, you have to quickly decide- where do I start? Do you start with the worst part? Or maybe even the best bit? Surely you’d start with a section which is not your favourite and save the best till last? These are questions I have thought about for far too long- it’s enough to keep me up at night. I constantly think about my favourite meals and how they should be enjoyed.

To savour a meal is to understand what you personally love the most. It might be the pork crackling on a Sunday dinner or maybe the garlic bread accompanying a spag-bol. Either way you must decide which bit will be the best part. However, this is difficult to decide at times as perhaps it’s the combination of foods that really brings out the umami in a dish, maybe it’s the mix of the yolk with bread and a slight bit of bacon on a full English breakfast. Whether it’s just one item or the combination of the items, it’s vital you admire your plate and then decide which will be the “perfect bite”. Once you have decided, you must leave this till last. 

The way to properly love a meal is to understand that you have to start with the second best thing, this way you can savour the dish but still start with a good note. After having the second best part of a dish, you move through backwards. You have the worst part, perhaps the not fully unfrozen veg or the pour of gravy that’s slightly lumpy, and you work through the plate making sure that the last bite of that meal is one which is so unbearably good it changes your perspective on food for the rest of your life.

Personally, I think it is vital to savour food. We’re lucky to be able to make and try different cultures just through a plate. Saving the best bite till last means that no matter the build up, you won’t be disappointed by the meal because you can just reminisce on how good that bite was- and it was so, so good.