Taste — Is it personal, or scientific?

Taste is an interesting sense because it includes the sense of smell. Its function is to combine the reactions that we have, both personal and predictable, to food and drink.

To know if taste is a matter of personal experience or a repeatable (science-based), phenomenon, we can read about adventures with taste from a flavor scientist (one who tests taste) as our guide.

Author Arielle Johnson articulates the science of taste, that is, the bits of data that objectively define taste and its parts such as smell and memory. She examines the 4-5 recognized tastes through the lenses of chemistry and personal preference. On the personal, or individual side, our responses, experiences, and emotions are recorded in our conscious memory. Here we see how our experience of flavor, although differing from person to person, still falls within certain ranges of predictability. For example, we all recognize the sweet taste, and the other 4 tastes of food and drink—salty, sour, umami, and bitter.

In her recently published book, author Johnson examines the terms we’re likely to run across in many cookbooks or videos on making the dishes, desserts, and baked goods we crave.

Contents of the Book

A striking truism, the statement above, “smell is half—or more—of flavor”, defines flavor as the combination of two of our senses—smell and taste. And this concept is what lead me to read the book, Flavorama: a guide to unlocking the art and science of flavor by Arielle Johnson, 2024. Published by Harvest, an Imprint of William Morrow.

Flavorama … brings us all the science and the latest research on flavor in one volume that’s easy to read and learn from, especially in our kitchens. I would like to warn you, though, that although the book offers about 100 recipes, it’s not a cookbook.

Flavor is a complicated notion

The author’s examination of flavor concepts like umami, bitterness, spicy, salty, and sweet, occupy the central idea of the book. And that idea is, simply, that “flavor is molecules”, basically, parts. The 4 parts are: “taste and smell”, “patterns of flavor”, “concentration of flavor”, and “creating and transforming flavor”. Thus, author Johnson discusses what exactly makes up this thing we call “flavor”.

Illustrations are key

Illustrations are always key when a topic is complex. “Flavor-ama …” is illustrated in a journal-like style with brightly-colored hand-drawn images representing everything edible. Named chemical substances, i.e. tastes of basic foods, vegetables and fruits, meats of all kinds, spices, drinks from fruits, grains, alcoholic beverages, etc. are all studied and observed.

The illustrations are that next level of information that readers appreciate. For example, a chart on the sweet taste shows the 5 known sugars, lactose, maltose, glucose, sucrose, and fructose from the least sweet (lactose), to the sweetest (fructose).

I consider illustrations rather helpful. Some of them illustrate things like the chemical element of a vegetal flavor. By explaining a more or less scientific concept in visual terms, a graphic increases my understanding when the details of chemistry* are not my immediate goal.

Typically, chemical names and references are impressive, yet I am drawn instead to ideas. For example, the author’s treatment of fermentation and herbal flavors in sauces intrigues me. With sauces or condiments as a start, I can acquire knowledge of flavoring, specifically how influential they are with other foods, what their experience on the palate might be.

I think that discussions on the trendy flavors most likely to be popular are the ones on Umami and Maillard. Since we often purchase the pre-made sauces for our tables, or we order a tasty meal in a restaurant, we are treated to the very unique and strong flavor enhancements these two flavorings offer. A discovery about them I find intriguing: Umami is water-based, while Maillard is the effect of fire on food surfaces and oils.

Conclusions

Pick up this book if you are cooking for anyone. Note the examination of how our taste buds predictably react to all kinds of flavors. And how flavor of a single ingredient can change the way food tastes.

You’ll discover more, as I did, about the nature of flavor, the patterns of substances that make flavor, where to get flavor from, and how to create it by choosing your pairings for specific effects.

“Flavorama … that keeps the seriously taste & flavor-addicted reader curious, and inspired with creative ideas.”

— LotusLadyAromatica

NOTES: on separating the useful from the obscure

“details of chemistry” is my tagline here, noting how complex the language of this science can be, especially in the ears and eyes of a non-chemistry-oriented person. It seems to be one of my life-long interests — decoding and (possibly) understanding the language of chemistry.

The reader who seeks more community with the science of chemistry plus our sense of taste will feel quite at home with the concepts here. Readers could be professional, even would-be chefs, those who are seriously into how their families and guests react to their cooking.

Not lost on me is the probable connotation of the word “ama”, emphasized by the artistic cover graphics of this book! How does it fall on your ears/eyes?

Title of the Book Reviewed Above:

Flavorama: a guide to unlocking the art and science of flavor by Arielle Johnson, 2024. Published by Harvest, an Imprint of William Morrow, New York. 304 p. Selected bibliography p. 285-296; Color illustrations

Review of “Flavorama”, a book about taste