Thursday, January 2, 2014

Where To Start In Case You Have The I Dont Know How To Cook Mentality

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By Harriett Crosby


Mastering the art of preparation is a lot more complicated than you may have thought. Understanding appetite, how it works and why the instincts exist in the first place goes a long way to make one understand and a general theory of cooking as an art. You'll no longer need to say "I dont know how to cook".

Control over the experience of the food we eat belongs to a series of nerves in our tongue; The Umami, Sweet, Bitter, Sour and Salt Receptors. The mixing of these flavors in varying ways generates the taste that you feel when you eat something. It is impressive how complicated the human body is.

The Umami Receptor is experienced through the Savory taste of Soy Sauce, Mushrooms & Tomatoes so these ingredients can be used to add that delicious savory taste to a meal. The Umami flavor does not seem to mix well with the Sour flavor.

Activated by Sugar the Sweet Receptor triggers the Sweet taste. Glucose is created by conversion from sugar so that it is usable in the body. Every organism on the planet needs glucose and lots of it since most of the body is made from Glucose. Even if you do not add sugar, there is likely a hefty amount of carbohydrates that function like sugar.

Activated by Salt the Salt Receptor detects salt in foods that we eat. Salt is needed by every living thing in the world. Oceans are extremely heavy in salt and pure salt usually comes from extraction from seawater.

The Sour Receptor is provoked by Lemon & Vinegar; Vinegar for frying and Lemon for vegetable based meals to add this highly sought after flavor. The Sour flavor seems to conflict with the Umami receptor in such a way that it may be better to pick one or the other.

The taste of sour is easily provoked by Lemon & Vinegar. It is thought that this taste is a possible defense mechanism against spoiled food as spoiled food is usually sour. Lemon is used mostly for Vegetable meals where Vinegar can be used for frying. The Umami and Sour flavor seem to conflict with each other so it is best to pick one or the other.

The tastes that you experience seem to be a Swash of the different receptors that are active at a time and based upon the activity, different tastes are experienced. From the taste buds an electrical signal is sent up the nerves and into the brain where this rainbow of tastes is all put together. Every different spice has an effect on taste of a meal in some way.

Don't cook that same archaic recipe when you could be creating your own recipe from scratch. Take an existing recipe and improve it with your new found mastery of the perception of flavor. There is no limit to what you can do with this new found mastery of taste.

Instead of thinking "I dont know how to cook", when you are cooking you must keep all of these receptors in mind and your own experience of that flavor for yourself. You should almost perceive what you are going to create tastes and smells like before you even put it together. By thinking in terms of what the flavor tastes like first and what the ingredients taste like second you can truly master the art of cooking a delicious meal.




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