Improvising Hot Emulsified Sauces

Improvisation requires an ability to imagine gustatory rather than visual images—a kind of thinking with the mouth and stomach. The technique of recalling tastes, textures, and colors takes practice, but once mastered it allows the chef to review mentally a variety of flavor combinations, checking and discarding until some exciting juxtaposition begins to form. Because the art of cookery relies on an aesthetic invariably linked with appetite, this technique works best on an empty stomach. The stomach and salivary glands are quick to respond to mental taste images and, when it comes to cooking, are far more reliable than the intellect.