Salt "brings out flavors"?

Andy said:

Some TV chefs remark that they add salt to bring out the flavor of other
items in a recipe. Is this really true or is it just to give the ol' sodium
taste buds a jolt?

Oh, this is a BIG subject. Salt does many, many things. If you're
really interested, check out this webpage for a list of books and
references to what it calls "Molecular Gastronomy." It has the
classics like Harold McGee's books and a bunch more, some popular and
some esoteric. Could lead to a lot of fun browsing, for those who
enjoy this sort of thing.

http://folk.uio.no/lersch/mat/index.e.html

One of the books in the first list on that page is "The New Kitchen
Science" by Howard Hillman. There are 23 entries for salt in the index
to that book, including two pages on "effect on taste perceptions" and
four entries on "seasoning with." -aem

Andy said:

Some TV chefs remark that they add salt to bring out the flavor of other
items in a recipe. Is this really true or is it just to give the ol' sodium
taste buds a jolt?

We only detect 5 tastes; salt, sour, sweet. bitter and umami. In addition to
it being one of the basic tastes, salt acts to enhance flavours by amplifying
the response in other taste receptors. A little salt added to a sugar solution
can act to make it taste sweeter.

aem said:

Andy said:

Some TV chefs remark that they add salt to bring out the flavor of
other items in a recipe. Is this really true or is it just to give
the ol' sodium taste buds a jolt?

Oh, this is a BIG subject. Salt does many, many things. If you're
really interested

aem,

BIG subject, SMALL question. 😉

Thanks,

--
Andy

Andy said:

aem said:

Andy said:

Some TV chefs remark that they add salt to bring out the flavor of
other items in a recipe. Is this really true or is it just to give
the ol' sodium taste buds a jolt?

Oh, this is a BIG subject. Salt does many, many things. If you're
really interested

aem,

BIG subject, SMALL question. 😉

Okay, smaller answer. Salt does more than stimulate taste buds. It
may affect, in various ways, how things cook, which in turn may affect
how they taste. If that "brings out the flavor" then the remark is
true. -aem

Dave Smith said:

Andy said:

Some TV chefs remark that they add salt to bring out the flavor of
other items in a recipe. Is this really true or is it just to give
the ol' sodium taste buds a jolt?

We only detect 5 tastes; salt, sour, sweet. bitter and umami. In
addition to it being one of the basic tastes, salt acts to enhance
flavours by amplifying the response in other taste receptors. A
little salt added to a sugar solution can act to make it taste
sweeter.

Dave,

Nice answer. Short and sweet. 😉

Thanks,

--
Andy

aem said:

Andy said:

aem said:

Andy wrote:
> Some TV chefs remark that they add salt to bring out the flavor of
> other items in a recipe. Is this really true or is it just to give
> the ol' sodium taste buds a jolt?
>
Oh, this is a BIG subject. Salt does many, many things. If you're
really interested

aem,

BIG subject, SMALL question. 😉

Okay, smaller answer. Salt does more than stimulate taste buds. It
may affect, in various ways, how things cook, which in turn may affect
how they taste. If that "brings out the flavor" then the remark is
true. -aem

aem,

Thanks,

--
Andy

Interesting topic! We were out to dinner at friends the other night.
Deborah is a superb cook. Lived in Hong Kong for 20 years. A real
foodie (like me). But, she doesn't salt the food - we were discussing
it with her. No reason, (maybe thinks it is healthier). I found I had
to apply a little salt to my plate, plain rice etc. We had gado gado (I
think cold vegetables need to be cooked with a little condiment), a
lovely tofu/vegetable stir fry, rendeng curry, chicken curry in
coconut.
I agree with Dave, it enhances the flavours without making it 'salty'.
Many many cakes, sweet pastries have a pinch of salt.
Adding salt to a finished dish (like the gado gado) is not the same as
salting the water to cook the veg. I found I was grinding fresh
peppercorns over it to 'get the flavour' LOL.
Pasta really needs to be cooked in salted water IMHO.
Cheers
Bronwyn
Oz

Dave Smith said:

We only detect 5 tastes; salt, sour, sweet. bitter and umami.

I've heard that too and have probably repeated it on occasion, but now
I'm wondering. If there are only 5 basic tastes, then how do I know the
difference between a pear and a pineapple? They're both sweet and [censored],
but a pear tastes distinctly like a pear, and a pineapple distinctly
like a pineapple. What is that difference if it is not taste?

In learning about wine, we learn about all sorts of different tastes.
Off the top of my head, there's sweet, acid, fruit, tanin, everything
from cassis to shoe leather. When you get good, you can taste the
different varietals. What gives?

--Lia

Julia Altshuler said:

Dave Smith said:

We only detect 5 tastes; salt, sour, sweet. bitter and umami.

I've heard that too and have probably repeated it on occasion, but now
I'm wondering. If there are only 5 basic tastes, then how do I know the
difference between a pear and a pineapple? They're both sweet and [censored],
but a pear tastes distinctly like a pear, and a pineapple distinctly
like a pineapple. What is that difference if it is not taste?

According to my chemistry teacher, it's scent. There are things called
"esters", apparently, and other things (this class was a long time ago)
that tell your brain that one sweet thing tastes different from another
sweet thing, for instance.

serene

"Dave Smith" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Andy said:

Some TV chefs remark that they add salt to bring out the flavor of other
items in a recipe. Is this really true or is it just to give the ol'
sodium
taste buds a jolt?

We only detect 5 tastes; salt, sour, sweet. bitter and umami. In addition
to
it being one of the basic tastes, salt acts to enhance flavours by
amplifying
the response in other taste receptors. A little salt added to a sugar
solution
can act to make it taste sweeter.

This "5 taste" idea is old and completely discredited. Actually it was 4
taste for a long time, but the facts remain. I do not mean to say that taste
has been completely explained, but the idea that the vast universe of subtle
taste differences can be explained by 5 tastes is just plain silly. Try to
explain the taste differences between morels, cepes, and [censored] with your 5
tastes. Between pork, beef, and lamb. Between mackerel, salmon, and bass.
Between chicken, turkey, and duck. See what I mean? A lot more is going on
but we do not know the details.

--
Peter Aitken

Peter Aitken said:

This "5 taste" idea is old and completely discredited. Actually it was
4 taste for a long time, but the facts remain. I do not mean to say
that taste has been completely explained, but the idea that the vast
universe of subtle taste differences can be explained by 5 tastes is
just plain silly. Try to explain the taste differences between morels,
cepes, and [censored] with your 5 tastes. Between pork, beef, and lamb.
Between mackerel, salmon, and bass. Between chicken, turkey, and duck.
See what I mean? A lot more is going on but we do not know the
details.

You're way off subject. You're talking about taste overall. So rename it
if you wish.

--
Andy
http://tinyurl.com/dzl7h

Peter Aitken said:

Quoted message said:

We only detect 5 tastes; salt, sour, sweet. bitter and umami. In addition
to
it being one of the basic tastes, salt acts to enhance flavours by
amplifying
the response in other taste receptors. A little salt added to a sugar
solution
can act to make it taste sweeter.

This "5 taste" idea is old and completely discredited

Where was it discredited? I did some web searching and there seems to be a lot
of support for it. Unimi was more of an asian thing but recent research has
revealed receptors that are specific to glutamate.

Quoted message said:

. Actually it was 4
taste for a long time, but the facts remain. I do not mean to say that taste
has been completely explained, but the idea that the vast universe of subtle
taste differences can be explained by 5 tastes is just plain silly. Try to
explain the taste differences between morels, cepes, and [censored] with your 5
tastes. Between pork, beef, and lamb. Between mackerel, salmon, and bass.
Between chicken, turkey, and duck. See what I mean? A lot more is going on
but we do not know the details.

The best I can suggest is that it is combinations of stimulation of the specific
receptors. You might have the same problem explaining why we can perceive so
many tints and hues of colours when the visual receptor cells respond only to
black and white or to three primary colours, or how we learn to distinguish the
sounds of musical instruments when our audio receptor cells pick up only
specific ranges of sound frequencies.

Dave Smith said:

Peter Aitken said:

Quoted message said:

We only detect 5 tastes; salt, sour, sweet. bitter and umami. In
addition to
it being one of the basic tastes, salt acts to enhance flavours by
amplifying
the response in other taste receptors. A little salt added to a
sugar solution
can act to make it taste sweeter.

This "5 taste" idea is old and completely discredited

Where was it discredited? I did some web searching and there seems to
be a lot of support for it. Unimi was more of an asian thing but
recent research has revealed receptors that are specific to glutamate.

Quoted message said:

. Actually it was 4
taste for a long time, but the facts remain. I do not mean to say
that taste has been completely explained, but the idea that the vast
universe of subtle taste differences can be explained by 5 tastes is
just plain silly. Try to explain the taste differences between
morels, cepes, and [censored] with your 5 tastes. Between pork, beef,
and lamb. Between mackerel, salmon, and bass. Between chicken,
turkey, and duck. See what I mean? A lot more is going on but we do
not know the details.

The best I can suggest is that it is combinations of stimulation of
the specific receptors. You might have the same problem explaining
why we can perceive so many tints and hues of colours when the visual
receptor cells respond only to black and white or to three primary
colours, or how we learn to distinguish the sounds of musical
instruments when our audio receptor cells pick up only specific ranges
of sound frequencies.

Dave,

You really should shift this tangent to a subject line of "Taste"? It
would better serve others, myself included, so it doesn't hide under
"salt" in the search engines.

--
Andy
http://tinyurl.com/dzl7h

Peter Aitken said:

"Dave Smith" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Andy said:

Some TV chefs remark that they add salt to bring out the flavor of other
items in a recipe. Is this really true or is it just to give the ol'
sodium
taste buds a jolt?

We only detect 5 tastes; salt, sour, sweet. bitter and umami. In addition
to
it being one of the basic tastes, salt acts to enhance flavours by
amplifying
the response in other taste receptors. A little salt added to a sugar
solution
can act to make it taste sweeter.

This "5 taste" idea is old and completely discredited.

Bull.

Quoted message said:

Actually it was 4 taste for a long time

Still is in most western scientific circles.

, but the facts remain. I do not mean to say that taste

Quoted message said:

has been completely explained, but the idea that the vast universe of subtle
taste differences can be explained by 5 tastes is just plain silly. Try to
explain the taste differences between morels, cepes, and [censored] with your 5
tastes. Between pork, beef, and lamb. Between mackerel, salmon, and bass.
Between chicken, turkey, and duck. See what I mean?

A lot more is going on but we do not know the details.

Ooo, the twilight zone.

You need to learn that how humans perceive nuances of taste has mostly
to do with olfactory perception.

Sheldon

Peter Aitken said:

"Dave Smith" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Andy said:

Some TV chefs remark that they add salt to bring out the flavor
of other items in a recipe. Is this really true or is it just to
give the ol' sodium taste buds a jolt?

We only detect 5 tastes; salt, sour, sweet. bitter and umami. In
addition to it being one of the basic tastes, salt acts to enhance
flavours by amplifying the response in other taste receptors. A
little salt added to a sugar solution can act to make it taste
sweeter.

This "5 taste" idea is old and completely discredited. Actually it
was 4 taste for a long time, but the facts remain. I do not mean to
say that taste has been completely explained, but the idea that the
vast universe of subtle taste differences can be explained by 5
tastes is just plain silly. Try to explain the taste differences
between morels, cepes, and [censored] with your 5 tastes. Between pork,
beef, and lamb. Between mackerel, salmon, and bass. Between chicken,
turkey, and duck. See what I mean? A lot more is going on but we do
not know the details.

Not discredited. In fact, some researchers are suggesting adding "soapy"
to that list of 5.

But what we "taste" is actually a combination of more than just what
taste buds indicate. Smell is absolutely integral to our perception of
what things "taste" like and how we differentiate between ostensibly
similar things. Secondary information components like fattiness,
moistness, etc. feed into that perception package.

Pastorio

Peter Aitken said:

"Dave Smith" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Andy said:

Some TV chefs remark that they add salt to bring out the flavor
of other items in a recipe. Is this really true or is it just to
give the ol' sodium taste buds a jolt?

We only detect 5 tastes; salt, sour, sweet. bitter and umami. In
addition to it being one of the basic tastes, salt acts to enhance
flavours by amplifying the response in other taste receptors. A
little salt added to a sugar solution can act to make it taste
sweeter.

This "5 taste" idea is old and completely discredited. Actually it
was 4 taste for a long time, but the facts remain. I do not mean to
say that taste has been completely explained, but the idea that the
vast universe of subtle taste differences can be explained by 5
tastes is just plain silly. Try to explain the taste differences
between morels, cepes, and [censored] with your 5 tastes. Between pork,
beef, and lamb. Between mackerel, salmon, and bass. Between chicken,
turkey, and duck. See what I mean? A lot more is going on but we do
not know the details.

Not discredited. In fact, some researchers are suggesting adding "soapy"
to that list of 5.

But what we "taste" is actually a combination of more than just what
taste buds indicate. Smell is absolutely integral to our perception of
what things "taste" like and how we differentiate between ostensibly
similar things. Secondary information components like fattiness,
moistness, etc. feed into that perception package.

Pastorio

In article <[email hidden]>,

serene said:

Julia Altshuler said:

Dave Smith said:

We only detect 5 tastes; salt, sour, sweet. bitter and umami.

I've heard that too and have probably repeated it on occasion, but now
I'm wondering. If there are only 5 basic tastes, then how do I know the
difference between a pear and a pineapple? They're both sweet and [censored],
but a pear tastes distinctly like a pear, and a pineapple distinctly
like a pineapple. What is that difference if it is not taste?

According to my chemistry teacher, it's scent. There are things called
"esters", apparently, and other things (this class was a long time ago)
that tell your brain that one sweet thing tastes different from another
sweet thing, for instance.

serene

That is an interesting thought...

Plug your nose, blindfold yourself, then have someone let you taste a
series of things with similar textures.

I think that smell provides a lot of the food "experience".
--
Om.

"My mother never saw the irony in calling me a son-of-a-[censored]." -Jack Nicholson

In article <[email hidden]>,

OmManiPadmeOmelet said:

Plug your nose, blindfold yourself, then have someone let you taste a
series of things with similar textures.

I think that smell provides a lot of the food "experience".

Well known to be true. It's why nothing tastes like much when you've
got a head cold and stuffed up nose.
--
http://www.jamlady.eboard.com, updated 11-19-05 - Shiksa Varnishkes.

In article <[email hidden]>,

Melba's Jammin said:

In article <[email hidden]>,

OmManiPadmeOmelet said:

Plug your nose, blindfold yourself, then have someone let you taste a
series of things with similar textures.

I think that smell provides a lot of the food "experience".

Well known to be true. It's why nothing tastes like much when you've
got a head cold and stuffed up nose.

Yep.

And why you lose weight when you are ill. ;-)
--
Om.

"My mother never saw the irony in calling me a son-of-a-[censored]." -Jack Nicholson