Culinary Techniques for Augmenting Flavor and Reducing Sodium

THE WORLD’S PREMIERCULINARY COLLEGE

Culinary Techniques For Augmenting Flavor And Reducing Sodium

Chris Loss, Ph.D., The Culinary Institute of America

Nutrient Essentials ConferenceChicago, IL

July 10, 2008


Overview

• Defining flavor –an interaction between the senses

• Mixture interactions and developing flavor balance

• Culinary techniques for developing flavor

• Culinary strategies for reducing sodium

• Flavor synergy: glutamates -David Kasabian

• Ingredient focus: culinary guided tour of salts –Chef Almir DaFonseca

• “Flavor principles” of Latin cuisines –Chef Randy Zweiban


Defining Flavor

• Flavor is a multimodal sensory experience perceived when consuming food (Delwiche, 2002).


Flavor Results From Interactions Between The Senses

• Olfaction and gustation (Mozel, 1969)

• Temperature and taste (Sekuler, 2002)

• Appearance, taste and olfaction (Lavin, 1998; Zampini, 2007)

• Texture and taste (Hyde, 1993)

• Context (King, 2007)


Flavor Results From Interactions Between The Senses

• Olfaction and gustation (Mozel, 1969)

• Temperature and taste (Sekuler, 2002)

• Appearance taste and olfaction (Lavin, 1998; Zampini, 2007)

• Texture and taste (Hyde, 1993)

• Context (King, 2007)


Interactions Between Gustation And Olfaction Have Been Documented In Culinary History

“…I am also tempted to believe that smell and taste form a single sense, of which the mouth is the laboratory and the nose is the chimney; or to speak more exactly, of which one serves for the tasting of actual bodies and the other for the savoring of their gases.” (Brillat-Savarin, 1825)


Demonstration Of Interactions Between Olfaction And Gustation On Perceived Flavor

(1) Pinch your nose closed

(2) Place a jelly bean in your mouth. ….what do you taste…?

(3) Release your nose. ….what flavors do you perceive…?


Olfaction Helps Us Identify The Flavor Of Foods

0 20 40 60 80 100

coffeewine

vinegarcherry

whiskeylemon

molassesoniongarlic

apricotpineapplecinnamonclam juice

root beerchocolate

cranberry juicegrape juice

dill pickle watersalt wate

sugar watwerwater

Percent correct

No nose

nose

(Adapted from Sekuler, 2002; Mozel, 1969)


Rel

ativ

e se

nsi

tivi

ty

High

Low

Low High37°CTaste solution temperature

Salt

Sour

Bitter

Sweet

(Adapted from Sekuler and Blake, 2002, pg. 584)

Temperature Impacts Perceived IntensityOf Basic Tastes


Implications Of Temperature Effects

• Foods should be seasoned for the temperature of consumption (Sekuler, 2002)

• Lower temperature foods may require less salt


Good Flavor

• Harmony and contrast amongst the senses

• Balance the new with the familiar (Lawless, 2000)

• The Chef’s forte- understanding ingredients- understanding technique- understanding flavor principles (Rozin, 1983) of

world cuisines- understanding the consumer


Culinary Techniquesfor Developing Flavor

• Utilizing ingredients that stimulate the palate- ginger, peppers, fresh herbs, wines…

• Extraction of flavors from ingredients- stocks, purees

• Infusions of flavors- herbed and fruit vinegars, garlic oil

• Concentration of flavor- reduction, dehydration


Culinary Techniquesfor Developing Flavor (Cont.)

• Sauté- promotes Maillard and caramelization reactions

• Deep frying- dry heat cooking method; creates texture contrast

• Poaching- low heat cooking of proteins submerged in flavorful

liquid

• Braising-long, low heat; flavor extraction and concentration


The Flavor of Mixtures

• Flavor release from oils (Guinard, 2002)

• Mixture suppression (Bartoshuk, 1975, Kemp, 1994)

• Mixture synergies

- sodium and perceived sweetness (Bartoshuk, 1978)

- artificial sweeteners (Ayya, 1992)

- glutamate and ribonucleotides (Yamaguchi, 1967)


Culinary Strategiesfor Reducing Sodium

• Season at the end of preparation to avoid adaptation (McBurney, 1966)

• Be aware of the sodium content of ingredients

- for ex parmesan cheese, olives, caper

• Preference for sodium is in part, learned (Coldwell, 1993;

Beauchamp, 1991) therefore reduce sodium in recipes gradually

• Modify portions and plate composition


Summary

• Understand your ingredients- composition and functionality

• Proper technique augments flavor development

• Flavor is multi-modal – look beyond the taste of salt

• New knowledge development and innovation is facilitated through cross-disciplinary collaboration


References

Ayya, N., Lawless, H.T. (1992) Qualitative and quantitative ecaluation of high-intensity sweetners and sweetener mixtures. Chemical Senses, 17,245-259.

CIA (2008) Course guide for Healthy Flavors of Asia, Latin America, and the Mediterranean. The Culinary Institute of America, Hyde Park, NY.

Bartoshuk, L.M. (1975) Taste mixtures: Is mixture suppression related to compression? Physiology and Behavior, 14, 643-649.

Bartoshuk, L.M., Murphy, C.L., Cleveland, C.T. (1978) Sweet taste of dilute NaCl. Physiology and Behavior, 21, 609-613.

Beauchamp, G.K., Engelman, K. (1991) High salt intake. Sensory and behavioral factors. Hypertension, 17(S)I176-81.

Brillat-Savarin, J.A. (1825.1972) The physiology of taste or meditations on the transcendental gastronomy (pg 39). (1825), Translated by M.F.K. Fisher 1972. New York : Alfred A. Knopf.

Coldwell, S.E., Tordoff, M.G. (1993) Learned preferences for the flavor of salted food. Physiology and Behavior, 54(5)999-1004.

Delwiche, J. (2002) The impact of perceptual interactions on perceived flavor. Food Quality and Preference, 15,137-146

Guinard, J.X., Wee, C., McSunas, A., Fritter, D. (2002) Flavor release from salad dressing varying in fat and garlic flavor. Food Quality and Preference, 13(3)129-137.


References (cont.)

Hyde, R.J., Witherly, S.A. (1993) Dynamic contrast: a sensory contribution to palatibility, Appetite, 21, 1-16.

King, S.C., Meiselman, H.L., Hottenstein, A.W., Work, T.M., Cronk, V. (2007) The effects of contextual variables on food acceptability; A confirmatory study. Food Quality and Preference, 18, 58-65.

Lavin, J., Lawless H.T. (1998) Effects of color and odor on judgments of sweetness among children and adults. Food Quality and Preference, 9, 283-289.

Lawless, H.T. (2000) Sensory combinations in the meal..(pg. 92-116). In: Dimensions of the Meal; The Science, Culture, Business, and Art of Eating, H.L. Meiselman Ed., Aspen Publication Gaithersburg, MD.

McBurney, D.H. (1966) Magnitude estimation of the taste of sodium chloride after adaptation to sodium chloride. Journal of Experimenta Pshychology, 72, 869-873.

Mozel, M.M., Smith, B., Smity, P., Sullivan, R., Swender, P. (1969) Nasal chemoreception in flavor identification. Archives of Ortolaryngology , 90, 367-373.

Rozin, E. (1983/2003) The flavor principle cook book. Flavor Principles, some applications, in The Taste Culture reader, Experiencing Food and Drink, Korsmeyer, C. Ed., Berg, New York.

Sekuler, R., Blake, R, (2002) Perception, 4th edition. McGraw Hill, New York, NY (pg. 584)

Yamaguchi, S. (1967) The synergistic taste effect of monosodium glutamate and disodium 5”inosinate. Journal of Food Science, 32, 473-475.