What is it that makes bacon so delicious?
I am aware of many of things that bacon has going for it. It is high in fat, high in salt, and smoked.
But taking a potato, frying it, covering it in salt, and sprinkling on liquid smoke, does not taste like bacon. (Yes I've tried. I try liquid smoke on everything.)
So what is it that yields that characteristic bacony flavor? Obviously it can be isolated since there are a plethora of products that are marketed with a bacon flavor.
http://www.thinkgeek.com/brain/whereisit.cgi?t=bacon&x=0&y=0
How can I impart some quantity of beautiful bacony flavor to other dishes while avoiding all the saturated fat and nitrates? I am asking specifically about isolating the flavor- not more healthy bacon substitutes.
Best Answer
The big missing thing in your description (fat, salt, smoke) is umami. You can see this in bacon-flavored products. For example, bacon salt (click on a "nutritional info" link) contains monosodium glutamate.
So if you want to make something bacon-flavored, short of using bacon (and possibly draining away a lot of fat), you're generally going to be looking for source of umami; see "What foods are high in umami?" or "What is a good vegetarian source of umami flavour?".
Also, bacon is definitely not acidic, and perhaps slightly sweet. This means, for example, tomatoes are probably not a good way to get the umami, and that whatever you do, you might try adding a tiny touch of sugar to bring out the flavor a little more. Things like shitake mushrooms and nori seem like better flavor matches. (If you've had furikake this shouldn't be too surprising.)
Pictures about "What is it that makes bacon so delicious?"
What makes bacon so tasty?
Scientists have confirmed that fat is the sixth basic taste, and fat is one of the key players in bacon. When the fatty acids break down as bacon cooks, they turn into compounds of tastes and smells, such as furans, aldehydes, and ketones. Furans are sweet and nutty; aldehydes are grassy; and ketones are buttery.What is used to flavor bacon?
The raw bacon is rubbed with salt and other seasonings, which imparts flavor and cures the meat over a period of a week or two. In some cases, sugar is added to the dry rub for some sweetness. This method is known as dry curing since you don't add any liquid during the curing process.Why is bacon so irresistible?
'When bacon is heated, the fats melt and the sugars and amino acids have a very unique chemical reaction,' they say in the video. This is known as the Maillard reaction, which gives browned foods their desirable flavour.Why does bacon taste different than ham?
Bacon and ham come from different places on the pig. They are treated differently in packaging and curing as well, which makes them quite different in the end. Ham can be cured by smoking it, while bacon is cured with salt.Gordon's Guide To Bacon
More answers regarding what is it that makes bacon so delicious?
Answer 2
I don't think lard, msg and liquid smoke would purely get you bacon. Umami translates (very poorly translated) to "savoury". It's found in lots of things, like meat, fish, ripe tomatoes, fermented stuff (cheeses, mushrooms, etc...) and according to wikipedia, breast milk. Assuming umami (and maybe smoke) are the major flavours in bacon, I'm not sure how much umami you'd need to extract to say "mmmm Bacon".
However, in digging around I found this science video that claims to be able to use roasted shitakes (very high in umami) taste like bacon. Further digging produced this recipe, which is essentially the same with addes soy and liquid smoke (to up the umami even further and add the "smokiness" of bacon).
So, while I'm sketpical... there are at least three people on the internet that think that if you can concentrate enough umami flavour into something, you can make it taste something like bacon. Or maybe it's just shitake mushrooms...
Sources: Stack Exchange - This article follows the attribution requirements of Stack Exchange and is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
Images: Engin Akyurt, Thought Catalog, Foodie Factor, Horizon Content