Metal cutlery food pairing

Metal cutlery food pairing - Set of shiny black spoons on gray table

Given the recent research on the taste of metals in cutlery (flatware) and their potential food pairings, is there any food unsuitable for stainless steel, or is this the universal make do metal?

Has anyone tried metal/food pairings for specific dishes?

We do use the heirloom silverware for delicate desserts, but that's about it!

Some references:

Institute of Making - Sensoaesthetic Properties of Materials

Fine Dining Lovers - Cutlery food science



Best Answer

I only have experience with metal and non-metal cutlery/food combination. I'm aware this isn't really what you've been asking, but still find it worthwhile to share.

From my personal experience there is a tasting difference between metal (I only know stainless steel) and non-metal (in my example nacre) with eggs. The difference comes from the "mouth-feel" of the spoon. I tried this with the same egg and the spoons both rested at the same place (to compensate temperature differences).

I experienced the metal spoon as cold (even though it was at room temperature), kind of "hiding the eggs flavor", while the nacre spoon was not only warmer, it felt kind of as if it wasn't there or at least much less prominent, offering a fuller flavor of the egg.




Pictures about "Metal cutlery food pairing"

Metal cutlery food pairing - Bunch of uncooked spaghetti near metal bowl and rolling pin placed on wooden surface on light kitchen
Metal cutlery food pairing - Multicolored pancake with cream served near marshmallow
Metal cutlery food pairing - High angle of tasty homemade pasta under cheese and sunflower seeds in plate with fork and knife near heap of almonds



Does metal change the taste of food?

Hannah - So, metals produce ions in your mouth and the more reactive the metal, the stronger the taste produced. The alloy stainless steel actually produces the mildest taste.

Does food taste better off silver?

Studies show people tend to eat less when their dishes are in sharp color-contrast to their food. Being "born with a silver spoon in your mouth" has long been known to have advantages. Apparently, eating off a silver spoon also has its perks \u2014 it seems to make your food taste better.

Does cutlery affect food taste?

Our perception of how food tastes is influenced by cutlery, research suggests. Size, weight, shape and colour all have an effect on flavour, says a University of Oxford team. Cheese tastes saltier when eaten from a knife rather than a fork; while white spoons make yoghurt taste better, experiments show.

Why do Forks taste like metal?

A metallic taste in the mouth, also called dysgeusia or parageusia, is a taste disorder in which a person perceives the taste of metal even though nothing is in the mouth. It can sometimes occur alongside fatigue, which is a constant feeling of exhaustion and lack of energy.



How to create a pairing on www.foodpairing.com




More answers regarding metal cutlery food pairing

Answer 2

Found a few other references to these foods tested by the Institute of Making

After three years of research, they unleashed the spoons on this complex Indian dinner, served with a flight of seven beers. The sight of 15 adults sucking their spoons like babies was an unusual start to a dinner party, but they had surprisingly different flavours. Copper and zinc were bold and assertive, with bitter, metallic tastes; the copper spoons even smelt metallic as they gently oxidised in the air. The silver spoon, despite its beauty, tasted dull in comparison, while the stainless steel had a faintly metallic flavour that is normally overlooked. As Miodownik pointed out, we were not just tasting the spoons but actually eating them, because with each lick we were consuming “perhaps a hundred billion atoms”. When the spoons were tasted with food, there were some surprising revelations. Baked black cod with zinc was as unpleasant as a fingernail scraped down a blackboard, and grapefruit with copper was lip-puckeringly nasty. But both metals struck a lovely, wild chord with a mango relish, their loud, metallic tastes somehow harmonised by its sweet-sour flavour. (“With sour foods, like mango and tamarind, you really are tasting the metal,” says Laughlin, “because the acid strips off a little of the surface.”) Tin turned out to be a popular match for pistachio curry. And Laughlin sang the praises of gold as a spoon for sweet things: “Gold has a smooth, almost creamy quality, and a quality of absence – because it doesn’t taste metallic.”

As well as the full publication called The use of standard electrode potentials to predict the taste of solid metals which appeared in Food Quality and Preference vol.22 I have found this Journal to be an amazing tool, there are many topics on the lesser thought of aspects of cooking, presentation, and consumption of the perfect dishes.

Answer 3

Based on everything I've ever read, stainless steel should be non-reactive with anything you'd encounter in a kitchen. There are specific warnings about copper and aluminum, and semi-nutty warnings about plastics and cast iron in some situations, but I've never read anything remotely reputable denigrating stainless steel.

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