Bringing out flavour in food [closed]
I've read in lots of places that pea purée or parnsnip help accentuate the scallops sweetness, while adding lime juice balances the sweetness.
My question is, do we always want to enhance the sweetness in a food which is inherently sweet? What about the odder tastes like sourness, saltiness, etc. Do we also want to enhance those or sweetness is the only one we want to enhance? Why not enhance the richness in avocados?
Best Answer
Combining various elements of the same basic taste will add that basic taste coupled to multiple textures (eg if you put sweet cherries on top of a sweet cake) and/or aromas (same example applies. Most of what we colloquially call taste is actually aroma). "Textures" can be about mouthfeel, temperature, fast or slow onset/fadeout of the basic taste, and other things. This all yields what is called "depth of flavour".
One example of both balancing and enhancing sourness is tomato sauce: Sugar is often added even though tomatoes are sweet, and (balsamic) vinegar is added even though tomatoes are sour. Overdoing these while still keeping them balanced, though, would give you a different result - you would end up with ketchup or sweet&sour sauce (depending on texture), not something meeting the common definition of a tomato sauce.
Saltiness is treacherous since on one hand, salt balances bitter flavours (which many vegetable ingredients inherently have!) strongly - on the other hand, if you are on the brink of oversalting, salt itself becomes a metallic/bitter flavour component. Some herbs (parsley and cilantro) seem to interact with saltiness in an interesting manner, probably because they are reasonably bitter.
Richness has mostly to do with fats. The avocado in question would not infrequently be found in a salad which also has an oil or oil-emulsion based dressing. Balancing it is by acidity and textural factors (eg fresh crunchy greens on top).
Bitterness in itself is tricky. It is sometimes (not always) due to alkaline compounds (which will interact with acids strongly - sometimes by balancing flavour, but sometimes also by chemically altering each other, see baking powder...). And it is disputed whether it is really a single basic taste or a cluster of similar tastes...
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What brings out the flavor in food?
Acidic ingredients help lift and balance flavor. Use small amounts of ingredients with bold flavors such as pomegranate seeds, chipotle pepper or cilantro. Give a flavor burst with good-quality condiments such as horseradish, flavored mustard, chutney, wasabi, bean purees, tapenade and salsas of all kinds.How do I add flavour to my food?
10 ways to add flavour without saltHow do I add flavor depth?
How You Can Build FlavorsHow do you balance flavours?
Adding something sweet (such as a pinch of sugar) or sour (such as a splash of citrus juice or vinegar) may downplay the saltiness. If it's a soup or a stew, you can try to neutralize the flavor by adding water or unsalted stock, but keep in mind that this may also affect the consistency of the dish.How to Create a Balance of Flavors in Your Cooking
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