"flavor" news and stories

Before we even had a chance to figure out the sound of one hand clapping, the Japanese have given us a riddle of a different sort: kokumi. Think of it like this: when is a flavor not a flavor? When it's kokumi! Confused? Apparently, so are a lot of food journalists who got all excited when Japanese researchers announced that they had discovered a whole new taste to add to the five we already know -- except, wait a minute, kokumi has no taste. Huh?

Sweet, sour, salty, bitter-those are pretty self-explanatory. Then there's umami, also identified by the Japanese and now commonly accepted as the "fifth" basic taste. It roughly translates to "savory." (According to the Food & Think blog at Smithsonian.com, it more accurately translates to "yummy," but that's not very helpful for explaining things.)

Now here comes kokumi. Unlike sugar, which of course tastes sweet, or salt, which (duh) tastes salty, the compounds in food that relate to kokumi don't have an identifiable taste in and of themselves. Instead, they appear to heighten the sensation of other flavors by activating calcium receptors on the tongue, making salty foods taste even saltier, for example, or savory foods taste more savory.

There are some things in this world that were meant to taste like hazelnut. Actual hazelnuts, for instance, and also Aunt Sylvia's famous holiday pralines. Maybe even a hot cocoa or a cookie batter that has a dash of extract in it.

But what about coffee beans?

Flavored coffee is and will likely always be a loaded topic; It's often considered the final qualifier when separating the proverbial men from the boys of caffeinated beverages. "Is it really so bad?," you might ask yourself. "What's all the hubbub?"

Read on after the jump to find out.

Flavorful seared steak. Photo: Jennifer Iserloh

Searing does not keep the juices in as many home cooks and chefs once thought, but it does place a flavorful crisp coating on the outside that no food lover can do without.

Here is a plan for searing the protein of your choice -- chicken, beef or fish. The more you work with the technique, the more often the star of your dinner will turn out perfectly!

Have you ever seen those big fluffy baguettes that the label says are one pound, but that seem really big for that weight? That's achieved through intensively mixing the dough so that the gluten is developed all the way, which allows the bread to expand quite a bit. There are several problems with this, though, not the least of which is that mixing the dough so intensively bleaches out all the color and flavor.

There's a solution to this problem that was invented by Raymond Calvel, a French baker who wrote "The Taste of Bread." Mr. Calvel developed a way to get the big fluffy bread while retaining its color and flavor. It's called autolyse, which translates as 'self destruct.' Autolyse is done when you mix only the flour and water of a bread recipe and let that rest for at least twenty minutes, and up to an hour. The flour and water are mixed enough that they are thoroughly incorporated, but not beyond that. This allows the flour to hydrate and the enzymes to start working, particularly protease which works to break down the protein in the flour.

Last year, Häagen-Dazs invited consumers to submit their best ice cream flavor ideas for a chance to create the brand's next superstar flavor. The ultra-premium ice cream brand attracted submissions that were a far cry from chocolate and vanilla, and the finalists were featured on a Food Network special about the contest. Sticky Toffee Pudding was chosen as the winning flavor over Toasted Coconut Sesame Brittle and Cannoli ice creams, even though the two runners up seemed to be more popular with the fans than the winning flavor was.

Clearly, however, Häagen-Dazs did pay attention to those interested in the other flavors because they have just released Toasted Coconut Sesame Brittle as part of their new Reserve line. There is no mention of the fact that the flavor was an entry in their last contest - in spite of the fact that it was only a few months ago. Hopefully the woman who submitted the original flavor got some sort of recognition from the company for coming up with the idea...

[thanks, Sara!]