I have watched cooking shows where the chef might put 10 different ingredients into his/her meal.
Are there people whose palates are so sensitive that they could tell if an ingredient was missing? Example: The chef usually puts in both ground white and black pepper. If one were missing could you tell?
No. There are 5 different types of taste that I know of. Bitter. Sweet. Salt. Sour. and Umami. I must have been born without the umami tastebud thingy. I don't even know what that means. :s. My taste buds and sense of smell are very slight. I love onion and garlic and black pepper. This might be why they are. More likey it is because I smoke and drink. So, that counts me out as one who would be able to tell the differnce in peppers and salts and 10 different types of tastes tantilizing my taste buds.
This post was edited by Merlin at June 5, 2019 10:33 PM MDT
Yes. I can tell the difference between white and black pepper. I prefer black but will use white for delicately flavoured, white or creamy dishes. I wouldn't bother to use both types simultaneously, but I could tell from the flavour if another cook had.
Have you ever played blind tastings? It's a great game to play with someone you love.
Remember the bell curve?
Imagine a bell curve for palate sensitivity which includes not just the six types of flavour receptor for the tongue (the 6th is umami) but also the sensitivity of the nose to aromas. At one end we have people born with no capacity to taste or smell. I've known one such. He was in constant danger because he could not smell if gas had been left on in the kitchen, whether his food was off and so on. In the middle are all the average people - may of whom don't care much about their food as long as it's within an acceptable range of tasty. At the other pole are those who's smell is so sensitive that they can create and judge wines, foods and perfumes.
Then there's those who: - lose part or all capacity for taste and smell - smokers, cocaine addicts, asthmatics, sufferers from particular diseases and medications. - have blunted their palates through desensitisation - so addicted to salt, sugar or chilli that they can't appreciate or even notice subtleties. - are not tuned in to their senses and they prefer to watch TV or have some other distraction while eating. - are nearing advanced old age, taste buds start to die off and smell can sometimes lose sensitivity - drink too much alcohol - past the one serve mark, tends to blunt the senses
Insensitivity to aroma tends to be associated with excessive weight gain. It is theorised that perhaps taste contributes to satisfaction, hence eating less, but also encouraging a wider range of healthier foods.
Sensitivity can be heightened with practice and attention.
This post was edited by inky at June 5, 2019 10:35 PM MDT
I am a smoker, so I am insensitive to most sublime flavours. I actually wrote this question in response to an answer to another of my questions. I fully expected you to answer it. Can you tell the differences between the tastes of the various varieties of hot chili? I am amazed that there are those that can. Thanks for the response.
The use of ten ingredients in one dish is not unusual.
It's not just professional chefs who cook complex food. For centuries it was mainly housewives who invented the classic dishes. The practice of putting little or no effort into food preparation is in fact very recent - pretty much since the invention of packaged and take-away foods - the last sixty years - and that only in the affluent West.
Consider India where a curry typically contains at least five spices, four vegetables, protein, and oil or dairy. And that doesn't include the rice, papadams, and side dishes. Or consider Chinese, Japanese and South-east Asian cookery - where it is obligatory to include sweet, salty, sour, bitter, hot, and umami flavours, then the veggies, main protein, cooking oils or fats, and rice. Or Mediterranean foods - Ratatouille, numerous pasta sauces, the elaborate process to make pasta, the cheeses, pickles and smoked and dried meats.
I love cooking. I consider it an art form, an expression of love, and a means of good health and pleasure in life. The French call it savoir vivre, knowing how to live. The phrase conjures the ideas of wisdom, practicality, good health and enjoyment all blended together.
I can understand why some people don't want to (or sometimes can't) put time and effort into making really enjoyable and healthy food - but personally, I couldn't live that way.
This post was edited by inky at June 5, 2019 10:42 PM MDT
Merlin 