|
The salt, sweetness, bitterness, acidity and umami of this dish combined with the aroma gives what we call the flavour. The visual splendor, company and atmosphere combine to make it delicious |
Understanding Flavours |
|
The Flavourists’ art of making flavours for a food application is steeped in mystery, some science, some food technology, some alchemy and some inspiration. To satisfy a commercial request, most flavourists use what they know at that time Science has made great progress in areas such as identification of key flavour molecules with specific flavours. This information however, and the experiences of working flavourists is not collected and prized. This site will attempt to collect this information and make it available to anyone interested. If you can contribute insights into the working of flavours please e-mail your ideas and they will be added to our knowledge base. Some flavours are just single chemicals like mustard (allyl iso thiocyanate), others are due to a collection of aroma chemicals at specific concentrations. While others like some wines, fruits, foods have flavours that are composed of identifiable nuances that combine to give the overall flavour. Hence the need for flavour ‘maps’ or ‘wheels’ that help the taster navigate through the complexities. Can flavourists ever duplicate nature? They can try but it is full of difficulties. Aroma chemicals used by flavourists are often not of the correct optical rotation. Nature tends to choose a particular optical rotation and that rotation often determines the flavour. Most commercial flavour chemicals are of mixed optical rotation. Using aroma chemicals isolated from natural essential oils helps. My own experience of flavour analysis shows that more likely than not, key odour impact chemicals are not identified. The flavourist is left to fill the gap. Next time you go to the greengrocer have a smell of fresh basil, does it smell of estragol, anethol or l carvone? No the dominant smell is this wonderful aroma that to my knowledge has not been identified. The concentration of the impact chemicals is also important, but in nature these compounds are often present as glucosides and are released slowly. The best that the flavourist can do is his/her best.
For a fine definition of flavor (click this link) Click on the many links to learn more ………>>> |
