On food and cooking the science and lore of the kitchen ( PDFDrive ) 1119
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flavor.Therearemanythousandsofdifferent
flavormolecules;theycanbecombinedin
untoldnumbersofways,anddifferentpeople
perceivethemdifferently.Still,it’susefulto
keepafewbasicfactsaboutflavorinmind
whenconstructingasauce.
The Nature of Flavor Flavor is mainly a
combinationoftwodifferentsensations,taste
and smell. Taste is perceived on the tongue,
and comes in five different sensations:
saltiness, sweetness, sourness, savoriness,
bitterness.Themoleculesthatwetaste—salt,
sugars, sour acids, savory amino acids, bitter
alkaloids — are all easily soluble in water.
(The astringent sensation caused by tea and
red wine is a form of touch, and the “hot”
pungency of mustard is a form of pain. They
arenottruetastes,butwealsoperceivethem
onthetongueandtheircausesarealsowatersoluble molecules.) Smell is perceived in the
uppernasalregion,andcomesinthousandsof
different aromas that we usually describe by
thefoodstheyremindusof,fruityorflowery
or spicy or herbaceous or meaty. The
molecules that we smell are more soluble in
fat than in water, and tend to escape from
water into the air, where our smell detectors
cansniffthem.
Itcanbeusefultothinkoftasteasthe
backboneofaflavor,andsmellasitsfleshing
out.Tastealoneiswhatweexperiencewhen
wetakesomefoodinthemouthandpinchour
nostrilsshut;smellaloneiswhatwe
experiencewhenwesniffsomefoodwithout
puttingitinthemouth.Neitherisfully
satisfyingonitsown.Andrecentresearchhas
shownthattastesensationsaffectoursmell
sensations.Inasweetfood,thepresenceof
sugarenhancesourperceptionofaromas,and
insavoryfoods,thepresenceofsalthasthe
sameeffect.
The Spectrum of Sauce Flavors When
