The Science of Flavor

1. The Science of Flavor

2. Flavor • Flavor is a combination of the tastes, aromas, and other sensations caused by the presence of a substance in the mouth. • Neurons in the brain become excited and we learn to recognize patterns of taste, aroma, mouthfeel, and flavor as being associated with a particular food.

3. Mouthfeel • Mouthfeel is the texture of a food and part of the flavor experience. (creamy, crunchy, smooth, crumbly, etc.

4. Tastes • Tastes are the sensations we detect when a substance comes in contact with the taste buds on the tongue, such as sweet, sour, salt, bitter, and umami.

5. Aromas • Aromas are the smells that enter the nose or float up through the back of the mouth to activate smell receptors in the nose.

6. Palate • The palate is the combination of flavors and the ability to organize them.

7. Taste Categories

8. Sweet • Sweetness comes from naturally occurring sugars and artificial sweeteners. • The fewer sweet items we eat, the lest we can recognize sweetness. • Sweetness can be enhanced by adding a small amount of sour, bitter, or salty taste, but adding too much can lessen our perception of sweetness.

9. Sour • Sour is the opposite of sweet and is found in acidic foods, including green grapes and sour cream. • Some sour foods contain a slight sweetness as well. • Sour taste can be improved by adding a little sweetness.

10. Salty • Some foods are naturally salty, like oysters and seaweed. • Usually, salty tastes in food are often the result of a cook adding sodium chloride (salt), or other salty ingredients, such as soy sauce. • Salt helps finish a dish by enhancing flavors. Dishes that lack salt often taste flat.

11. Bitter • At times, bitter tastes can be appreciated, such as when tasting coffee or chocolate. • However, a bitter-flavored ingredient unbalanced by something sour or salty is generally disliked. • As a survival mechanism, our reaction to bitter tastes is believed to serve as a warning of inedibility or unhealthfulness.

12. Umami • Recently, researchers have begun to recognize a fifth taste, umami, which means delicious in Japanese. • Umami refers to a food’s savory characteristic, meatiness, richness, and fullness of a dish’s overall taste.

13. Umami • Taste buds recognize umami in the presence of several things, such as the amino acid glutamate. • Cheeses, meats, rich stocks, soy sauce, shellfish, fatty fish, mushrooms, tomatoes, and wine are all high in glutamate and produce the taste sensation of umami.

14. Factors Affecting Flavors

15. Temperature • Foods at warm temperatures offer the strongest tastes. • Heating foods releases volatile flavor compounds, which intensifies a persons perception of odors. • This is why things like fancy cheeses are served at room temperature.

16. Consistency • Two items with the same taste and smell but that differ in texture will have different taste intensities. • For instance, sweetened heavy cream has a more intense flavor that whipped cream because the whipped cream has more volume.

17. Contrasting Tastes • Sweet and sour are considered opposites and can be used to enhance the flavor of foods dominated by one another. • For example, sprinkling a grapefruit with sugar will reduce its sourness, and adding a little lemon to peaches reduces the sweetness. • Also, something sweet, sour, or salty added to a bitter dish reduces the bitterness.

18. Fats • Many of the chemical compounds that create tastes and aromas are dissolved in fats in foods. • As these chemical compounds are released by evaporation or saliva, they provide a long lasting taste sensation. • If there is too little fat, the flavor compounds may not be released properly, resulting in a dish with little flavor.

19. Color • A food’s color affects how a person perceives the food’s flavor before it is tasted. • When foods or drinks lack their ordinary color, they are less readily identified correctly (green lemon pie versus yellow) • As color levels increase to match normal expectations, our perception of taste and flavor intensity increases (ripe red strawberry versus underripe white strawberry)

20. Compromises to the Perception of Taste

21. Picture Credits • Flavor: http://www.thefoodsection.com/foodsection/2009/02/agenda-test-you.html • Mouthfeel: http://www.thekitchn.com/what-are-your-favorite-foods-b-66427 • Tastes: http://coffeecupnews.org/tutorial-3-the-tongue-how-to-do-a-coffee-tasting-part-2/ • Aromas: http://foresightimprovement.com/foresight-in-the-new-year-2012-predictions-flavors-and-neurogastronomy/ • Palate: http://editedtowithinaninchofmylife.blogspot.com/2012/02/cleansing-palette.html • Sweet: http://www.tasteofhome.com/Recipes/Strawberry-Raspberry-Trifle • Sour: http://www.myrecipes.com/summer-grilling/summer-drinks/fresh-squeezed-lemonade-10000001736842/ • Salty: http://www.dealies.ph/13520-diet-and-food-myths-debunked-so-you-can-enjoy-our-food-and-drinks-deals-in-peace/ • Bitter: http://blog.fatfreevegan.com/2006/07/pinakbet.html • Umami: http://umamisf.com/ • Temperature: http://www.cheesesupply.com/product_info.php/products_id/409 • Consistency: http://creamwhipdispensers.com/whipped-cream-recipes • Contrasting Tastes: http://blog.seattlecoffeegear.com/2011/03/31/recipe-salted-caramel-latte/ • Fats: http://bhgfood.tumblr.com/post/26696509238/daily-dish-melted-butter-chile-powder-and-lime • Color: http://www.whataboutwatermelon.com/index.php/2009/10/the-mysterious-blue-watermelon-part-2/

22. Academic Material On Baking: A Textbook of Baking and Pastry Fundamentals (2009) by Sarah R. Labensky Pricilla Martel Eddy Van Damme