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About 5 years ago, I managed to con my employer into sending me on a culinary tour of Mexico with celebrity chefs. I falsely thought that this was my talent. I could convince people to finance my whims, with a subsequent ill-advised foray into filmmaking.

During that tour, I sampled a lot of dishes whose complexity boggled and left me with a perpetual “wow” reaction which could only be cleared with some fine mezcal. And then I tried something that defined artistic perfection. I hailed it as the best thing ever.

Why?

Because I understood it.

It was butter, served with bread while the appetizer was being pulled out of the aquarium. I applied a chunk of the butter to a crusty baguette, and the following happened in bullet time –

A readily accessible caramelized sweetness that slowly built in intensity, surrounded by a refreshing citrus bloom with occasional flavor bursts, …