Sensory Perception

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Sensory Perception

• Cooking and eating is all about using our senses.

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5 senses used when eating

• Taste
• Sight
• Smell
• Touch
• hearing

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Taste

• Taste buds in our mouth detect
• Sweet tip of tongue
• Sour side back of tongue
• Salty side front of tongue
• Bitter back of tongue
• Unami (savory) 1st identified in Japan meaning
  delicious, it refers to a meaty, brothy flavor of
  food that is not sweet. Has no identified part
  of tongue.

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Sight

• Usually our first experience with a food dish
• Food should look good
• Should have appealing colors

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Smell

• We can identify foods just by their smells.
• Aromatic refers to a strong smell
• Smell will help determine like or dislike of a
  food.

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Touch

• Texture - how a food feels
• Temperature - hotness or coldness of food
• Something that is thick and chewy will stay in
  the mouth longer

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Flavor

• The way a food tastes, its texture, appearance,
  doneness, and temperature
• We use our sensory perceptions to help determine
  the flavor of food by combining taste, aroma and
  other sensations.
• Taste the sensations when food comes in contact
  with the taste buds

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Flavor is changes by

• Ripening or aging - richest flavor
• Temperature - cold is less flavorful
• Consistency - thicker foods have less intense
  flavor
• Preparation and cooking - this changes the taste
  most significantly

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Describing Flavor

• Look
• Opaque light doesnt pass through
• Translucent some light passes through
• Transparent clear
• By color
• Smell
• by the name of the food
• Descriptive words perfumed, pungent, earthy,
  stale, musty, fresh, strong, intense

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• Feel
• Descriptive words firm, hard, soft, crisp,
  crunchy, crumbly, warm, cold, watery
• Sound
• Descriptive words snap, sizzle, pop,
  crackle,crunch, fizz

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• Our perception of taste can be compromised by
• Age - taste perception declines with age as taste
  buds quit working
• Health - colds interfer with smell and some
  medications interfer with taste
• Smoking - less sensitive to odors and tastes

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Seasoning Flavoring Foods
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Seasonings

• Ingredients added to food to improve the flavor
• Seasonings are used to
• Enhance the natural taste
• Balance tastes
• Cut the richness
• 4 basic seasoning salt, pepper, sugar light
  sweeteners, acids

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Most common SeasoningSalt (sodium chloride)

• High sodium foods soy sauce, parmesan cheese,
  bacon, olives
• Table salt refined of other minerals and
  impurities
• Iodized salt has iodine added
• Sea salt not refined so has minerals
• Kosher salt made without additives
• Use twice the amount when substituting for table
  salt
• Rock salt less refined, used in ice cream
  makers
• Monosodium Glutamate (MSG) comes from seaweed
  and is not actually a salt but used as
  one--provides the umami taste

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Other seasonings

• Pepper a spice that brings out flavor
• Black - unripe berries available as whole
  berries, cracked, or ground. Grind pepper for a
  fresher more aromatic taste
• White - ripe berries that are dried and used in
  light colored sauces
• Sugar universally used to enhance flavor
• Brown sugar is a flavoring agent not a seasoning
• Liquid sweeteners include corn syrup, honey,
  maple syrup
• Acids gives a tart/sour flavor from lemon/
  orange juice, vinegar, wine and also improves the
  appearance and texture

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Flavoring

• An ingredient that adds a new taste to food and
  alters the natural flavor
• Done using herbs, spices, vinegars, condiments
• Layering adding flavor on top of other flavors
  to create pleasing combinations
• When flavoring, more is used as compared to
  seasoning where a small amount is used.

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Herbs, Spices Aromatics
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Herbs leaves stems of plants

• Can be used dried or fresh but both will lose
  flavor as they age
• Certain herbs are associated with certain
  cuisines
• Italian - oregano, basil
• Greek - oregano, mint
• Dried herbs should have a pleasant smell. Herbs
  older than 6 mo. Will have no aroma

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• Fresh herbs
• should have intense flavor, good color
• leaves should be intact and stems firm
• Store loosely wrapped in a damp paper towel in a
  loosely closed plastic bag
• Should be cut right before cooking
• For a more intense flavor add herbs at the end of
  cooking
• 1 tsp. dried herb 1 T fresh herb

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Spices

• From the bark, seed, bud/berries of plants
• Once very costly
• Whole spices last longer than ground spices
• Ground spices last about 6 months.

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Spice/Herb Blends

• Include
• Curry powder
• Chinese 5 spice powder
• Jamaican jerk seasoning
• Spices and herbs dont add fat or calories to
  food.

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Aromatic Ingredients

• Vegetables onion, garlic, leeks, green onions,
  mushroom, celery, tomato
• Fruit lemon, lime, orange
• Zest the outer peel of fruit
• Forms zest, juice, dried
• Liquids broth, wine, brandy, liqueurs, stock,
  extracts

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Oils

• Oilany fat that remains liquid at room
  temperature
• Smoke point the temperature at which fat breaks
  down and smokes
• Flash point the temperature at which fat
  ignites
• Rancid fat that is spoiled

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Types of Oil

• Vegetable - odorless, neutral flavor, cholesterol
  free
• Canola - no cholesterol, high monounsaturated fat
• Nut - strong flavor and aroma, heat diminishes
  the flavor
• Olive - from fruit and labeled by acidity level
  (low acid is preferable)
• Extra virgin is 1 or less acidity, virgin is 3
  or less
• Flavored bread dips, marinades, dressings,
  sauces

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Condiments

• Once included any item used to flavor foods
  (herb, spice, vinegar), but now includes cooked
  or prepared mixtures used to flavor or season
  foods
• Can be used in preparation or added by the
  individual diner
• Can make from scratch, buy fresh, bottled,
  canned, or jarred
• Can use a little or a lot

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• Relish cooked or pickled sauce of vegetables or
  fruit
• Chutney a relish of fruit, spices, herbs
• Ketchup American tomato sauce
• Mustard mustard seeds, vinegar, salt spices
• Dijon mustard named after town in France
• Soy sauce fermented liquid from cooked soy
  beans, wheat, and salt

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Vinegars

• Sour liquid made from fermenting wine or alcohol
• Wine vinegar
• Malt vinegar
• Distilled vinegar (grain alcohol)
• Cider vinegar
• Rice vinegar
• Flavoered vinegars

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Aromatic Combinations

• Use of more than 1 flavoring
• 3 most common types
• Mirepoix
• Sachet depices
• Bouquet garni
• Additional Aromatic Ingredients
• Aromatic fruits and vegetables
• Aromatic liquids
• Cured and smoked foods

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• Mirpoix is a combination of vegetables with
  5common types
• Standard onion, carrot, celery - used in stock
  and soup
• White - parsnips are used in place of carrots -
  used in white stock/soup
• Cajun trinity - onion, celery, green pepper
• Matignon - onion, carrot, celery, ham
• Battuto - fat, garlic, onion, parsley, carrot,
  celery and sometimes green pepper - used in
  Italian cooking

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To make mirepoix

• Rinse onions, carrots, celery.
• Trim all ingredients.
• Cut ingredients to correct size.
• Add mirepoix at the correct time.
• Cook long enough to flavor the dish.

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• Sachet dEpices
• Mixture of fresh and dried herbs and spices in a
  cheescloth bag
• peppercorns, thyme, parsley
• Bouquet Garni
• Only fresh herbs and aromatic vegetables tied in
  cheesecloth
• Herbs Thyme, parsley, rosemary, citrus peels
• Vegetables leeks, garlic, scallions
• The cheesecloth bags are simmered in food dishes
  then removed and discarded.

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Condiments, Nuts and Seeds

• Condiments prepared mixtures used to season and
  flavor foods.
• Something extra
• served on the side
• added by to food by the dinner
• Changes food by
• Adding flavor (spicy, sweet, sour, salty, etc.)
• Add color or texture to look of food
• When purchasing condiments, make sure container
  is intact without leaks, bulges, or dents.
• Before using condiments check for freshness, off
  odors, if container date if past prime, off-taste

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Nuts

• Nuts are the fruit of various trees
• Exception peanut is part of the root system
• Come in shell or shelled
• Come uncooked, roasted, blanched
• Come whole, halved, slice, slivered, chopped
• Tahini the butter or paste produced from sesame
  seeds
• Examples almond, cashew, chestnut, hazelnut,
  macadamia, pecan, pine nut, peanut, pistachio,
  walnut

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Seeds

• Part of the plant that can grow into a new plant
• Comes from herbs, flowers, vegetables
• Used whole sesame, poppy
• Used as flavoring mustard seeds, cumin, nutmeg,
  fennel seeds

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Storing Nuts Seeds

• Best stored in cool, dry place
• If vacuum packed will last long time
• In shell up to 6 months
• Roasted keep about a month
• Sliced or chopped nuts - not more than 3-4 weeks
  unless stored in sealed container in the freezer
• Butters follow label instructions

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Roasting Nuts, Seeds, or Spices

• Shell nuts or seeds.
• Add to a dry, hot saute pan.
• Stir constantly.
• Toast until aromatic and slightly brown.
• Transfer to a cool bowl.
• If nuts and seeds are overcooked they can become
  bitter.