"You're about to be introduced to the UMAMI factor, the secret to sensational homemade beverages, including spirits, wine, beer, kombucha, and more. Chances are you may not have heard of umami, the taste impression created by certain amino acids in a food or beverage. Starting the novice off right with a thorough understanding of 'full-spectrum' fermentation theory, the book dives into the various preparation techniques and shows how umami-producing ingredients create beverages with a sensation of balance and roundness on the palate, tongue, nose and even throat. More than 7 recipes, sharp insight, and handy tips help the amateur fermentation chef conquer the next frontier in beverage science. Even the most experienced of fermentation afficionados will discover a philosophical yet practical approach to further exploration."--Back cover.
A spirited new translation of a forgotten classic, shot through with timeless wisdom Is there an art to drinking alcohol? Can drinking ever be a virtue? The Renaissance humanist and neoclassical poet Vincent Obsopoeus (ca. 1498–1539) thought so. In the winelands of sixteenth-century Germany, he witnessed the birth of a poisonous new culture of bingeing, hazing, peer pressure, and competitive drinking. Alarmed, and inspired by the Roman poet Ovid's Art of Love, he wrote The Art of Drinking (De Arte Bibendi) (1536), a how-to manual for drinking with pleasure and discrimination. In How to Drink, Michael Fontaine offers the first proper English translation of Obsopoeus's text, rendering his poetry into spirited, contemporary prose and uncorking a forgotten classic that will appeal to drinkers of all kinds and (legal) ages. Arguing that moderation, not abstinence, is the key to lasting sobriety, and that drinking can be a virtue if it is done with rules and limits, Obsopoeus teaches us how to manage our drinking, how to win friends at social gatherings, and how to give a proper toast. But he also says that drinking to excess on occasion is okay—and he even tells us how to win drinking games, citing extensive personal experience. Complete with the original Latin on facing pages, this sparkling work is as intoxicating today as when it was first published.
Highly qualified food and nutrition scientists combine with some of the world's greatest chefs to produce this superbly illustrated revelation of the mysterious 'fifth taste' that has gained global recognition in recent years and has become such a key component in cooking. Featuring information on the science of the umami taste, and with recipes from world-class chefs such as Heston Blumenthal, Alexandre Bourdas, Michael Anthony and many more, Umami: The Fifth Taste presents wonderful new possibilities for cuisines of every genre and culinary style.
Throughout time, people have chosen to adopt a vegetarian or vegan diet for a variety of reasons, from ethics to economy to personal and planetary well-being. Experts now suggest a new reason for doing so: maximizing flavor -- which is too often masked by meat-based stocks or butter and cream. The Vegetarian Flavor Bible is an essential guide to culinary creativity, based on insights from dozens of leading American chefs, representing such acclaimed restaurants as Crossroads and M.A.K.E. in Los Angeles; Candle 79, Dirt Candy, and Kajitsu in New York City, Green Zebra in Chicago, Greens and Millennium in San Francisco, Natural Selection and Portobello in Portland, Plum Bistro in Seattle, and Vedge in Philadelphia. Emphasizing plant-based whole foods including vegetables, fruits, grains, legumes, nuts, and seeds, the book provides an A-to-Z listing of hundreds of ingredients, from avßav? to zucchini blossoms, cross-referenced with the herbs, spices, and other seasonings that best enhance their flavor, resulting in thousands of recommended pairings. The Vegetarian Flavor Bible is the ideal reference for the way millions of people cook and eat today -- vegetarians, vegans, and omnivores alike. This groundbreaking book will empower both home cooks and professional chefs to create more compassionate, healthful, and flavorful cuisine.
In the West, we have identified only four basic tastesÑsour, sweet, salty, and bitterÑthat, through skillful combination and technique, create delicious foods. Yet in many parts of East Asia over the past century, an additional flavor has entered the culinary lexicon: umami, a fifth taste impression that is savory, complex, and wholly distinct. Combining culinary history with recent research into the chemistry, preparation, nutrition, and culture of food, Mouritsen and Styrb¾k encapsulate what we know to date about the concept of umami, from ancient times to today. Umami can be found in soup stocks, meat dishes, air-dried ham, shellfish, aged cheeses, mushrooms, and ripe tomatoes, and it can enhance other taste substances to produce a transformative gustatory experience. Researchers have also discovered which substances in foodstuffs bring out umami, a breakthrough that allows any casual cook to prepare delicious and more nutritious meals with less fat, salt, and sugar. The implications of harnessing umami are both sensuous and social, enabling us to become more intimate with the subtleties of human taste while making better food choices for ourselves and our families. This volume, the product of an ongoing collaboration between a chef and a scientist, won the Danish national Mad+Medier-Prisen (Food and Media Award) in the category of academic food communication.
This Open Access book covers the concept of umami, the unique taste imparted by the amino acid glutamate, was first described in 1908 by Dr. Kikunae Ikeda of Tokyo University. Over the past century, hundreds of studies have explored the mechanistic underpinnings of the taste, leading to the characterization of the umami taste receptor in 2002. How this fifth basic taste figures into nutrition and health, however, remains underexplored. Umami: Taste for Health provides an overview of the relationship between umami and human health. Authors explain how glutamate not only produces a characteristic oral sensation in the mouth but also functions as a signaling molecule to induce physiological responses. With the support of recent studies, the book demonstrates how the taste properties of umami make glutamate a promising substance to lower salt intake, promote satiation and support healthier aging. The text also covers practical culinary applications to increase umami flavor and practical usage of umami for promoting healthy eating. Provides an overview of the relationship between umami and human health; Explores the potential of glutamate to lower salt intake, promote satiation and support healthier aging; Covers practical culinary applications of umami flavor and practical usage of umami for promoting healthy eating.
This engaging and approachable (and humorous!) guide to taste and flavor will make you a more skilled and confident home cook How to Taste outlines the underlying principles of taste, and then takes a deep dive into salt, acid, bitter, sweet, fat, umami, bite (heat), aromatics, and texture. You'll find out how temperature impacts your enjoyment of the dishes you make as does color, alcohol, and more. The handbook goes beyond telling home cooks what ingredients go well together or explaining cooking ratios. You'll learn how to adjust a dish that's too salty or too acidic and how to determine when something might be lacking. It also includes recipes and simple kitchen experiments that illustrate the importance of salt in a dish, or identifies whether you're a "supertaster" or not. Each recipe and experiment highlights the chapter's main lesson. How to Taste will ultimately help you feel confident about why and how various components of a dish are used to create balance, harmony, and deliciousness.
Widely hailed as one of the most influential cookbooks of all time, this is the timeless classic guide to culinary creativity and flavor exploration, based on the wisdom of the world's most innovative chefs Eight years in the making, The Flavor Bible is a landmark book that has inspired the greatest creations of innovative cooks and chefs by serving as an indispensable guide to creativity and flavor affinities in today's kitchen. Cuisine is undergoing a startling historic transformation: With the advent of the global availability of ingredients, dishes are no longer based on geography but on flavor. This radical shift calls for a new approach to cooking -- as well as a new genre of "cookbook" that serves not to document classic dishes via recipes, but to inspire the creation of new ones based on imaginative and harmonious flavor combinations. The Flavor Bible is your guide to hundreds of ingredients along with the herbs, spices, and other seasonings that will allow you to coax the greatest possible flavor and pleasure from them. This astonishing reference distills the combined experience of dozens of America's most innovative culinarians, representing such celebrated and transformative restaurants as A Voce, Blue Hill, Café Atlántico, Chanterelle, Citronelle, Gramercy Tavern, the Herbfarm, Jardinière, Jean Georges, Le Bernardin, the Modern, and the Trellis. You'll learn to: explore the roles played by the four basic tastes -- salty, sour, bitter, and sweet -- and how to bring them into harmony; work more intuitively and effectively with ingredients by discovering which flavors have the strongest affinities for one another; brighten flavors through the use of acids -- from vinegars to citrus juices to herbs and spices such as Makrut lime and sumac; deepen or intensify flavors through layering specific ingredients and techniques; and balance the physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual aspects of cooking and serving an extraordinary meal. Seasoned with tips, anecdotes, and signature dishes from the country's most respected chefs and pastry chefs, The Flavor Bible is an essential book for every kitchen library. For more inspiration in the kitchen, look for The Vegetarian Flavor Bible andKitchen Creativity.
Flavour is an important sensory aspect of the overall acceptability of meat products. Whether we accept or reject a food depends primarily on its flavour. Both desirable and undesirable flavour effects are contemplated. Furthermore, threshold values of different flavour-active compounds have an important effect on the cumulative sensory properties of all foods. Meat from different species constitutes a major source of protein for most people. Although raw meat has little flavour and only a blood-like taste, it is a rich reservoir of non-volatile compounds with taste-tactile properties as well as flavour enhancers and aroma precursors. Non-vola tile water-soluble precursors and lipids influence the flavour of meat from different species. In addition, mode of heat processing and the nature of additives used may have a profound effect on the flavour of prepared meats. This book reports the latest advancements in meat flavour research. Following a brief overview, chapters 2 to 5 discuss flavours from different species of meat, namely beef, pork, poultry and mutton. In chapters 6 to 12 the role of meat constituents and processing on flavour are described. The final section of the book (chapters 13 to 15) summarizes analytical methodologies for assessing the flavour quality of meats. I wish to thank all the authors for their cooperative efforts and com mendable contributions which have made this publication possible.
