Hi. I’ve been lurking for months, following many of the threads and EGI Institute with great interest. You have been my epicurean “deep throat”, providing vast, varied information, expertise and entertainment. e-Gullet is fully responsible for “opening my eyes” to a world of larb, Shun knives, Foodsavers, Loebel’s, and lots of other “pretty cool” stuff, I’d never heard of. And so, I offer my first post, humbly asking for your advice and suggestions. My husband and I are hosting our gourmet club in July. The club (four couples) has met about six times a year for many, many years. While everyone has an appreciation for good food and reasonable home cooking skills, no one is a true “foodie” (other than possibly me). After so many years, the “top of mind” themes have been done and sometimes “redone”. It’s time to try something different. My goal is to “stretch” their food experiences and insights. I’d like them – at least for the night - to become food-obsessed. And, it seems like a great first step would be to offer an “experiential” means for them to taste big differences based on simple changes. For example, how different wines can affect the taste of cheese (or is it vice versa?), or how different cooking methods can change the flavor and texture of the same fish, or how “aging” can affect the taste of a steak. So, for July, I’m playing with a “Three Course Tasting Menu” concept. It’s very rough. Here are the thoughts so far: First Course: Compare & contrast various combinations of wine & cheese (or wine and other things). This might extend to testing to see if “the right” wine glasses really do make the wine taste better. Second Course: Toying with a few main course ideas. One option is to prepare identical cuts of meat (say a rib-eye) from three sources: Loebel’s, the local butcher, from the grocery chain and aged in the fridge, and directly from the grocery chain’s shrink-wrapped package to see if we can “taste” the differences, and whether the differences are worth the money. Another option is to get identical cuts of salmon (or other protein) and prepare them several ways to compare the differences (broiled, slow-roasted, pan seared, grilled, cedar-planked, and possibly, steamed). Third Course: Dessert of three chocolates? Chocolate combined with various beverages? Other thoughts? So: bring it on. What do you think? Does the idea have promise? Can or should “education” and “entertainment” be mixed? Should I even bother to try this with people who like but don’t obsess over food? Do you have specific tasting suggestions? Do you think the “tasting” idea will get old over an entire meal? Am I better off creating a “French” or “Indian” or other such menu, and letting it go?