Where Flavors Meet
To satisfy today’s American palate, consumers seek innovative sensory stimulation almost as much as basic nourishment. And, the multi-ethnic, global sophis-ticates they’ve become encourage processors to meet these desires through bridging herbs, spices, extracts, and esoteric fruits and vegetables into hot-trending cuisine fusions. Expert research chefs react to this consumer requirement by reinvent-ing safe stand-bys with the introduction of non-traditional fla-vor components to produce an approachable, yet fresh, dining experience. In other words, they coax consumers to the table with something within their frame of reference—but produce it in a way that captivates their imagination—bridging the gap between the familiar and the unfamiliar.
Examination of the culinary traditions from any culture provides proof the architects used not only raw ingredient availability and utilitarian pragmatism as their building blocks, but also a deeply imbedded desire to please the palate. In each scenario, it is inevitable that basic laws are followed and applied with what is readily to hand. This is evidenced by the fact that there are many variations on any given theme.
An example of this is the simple hamburger, which has worn more accessories over the years than Madonna, Cher and Lady Gaga combined. It’s been crowned with foie gras and truffles; bedecked with chipotle-spiced fried onion shards; adorned with a basted egg; enrobed in porcini aioli; and even stuffed full of barbecued pork, all with the idea of elevating an already beloved experience.
There are some universals to cultural cuisines. Tomato and garlic is considered Italian; tomato and fines herbes is Provençal French. Tomato and roasted chili peppers is Mexican; tomato with saffron is Spanish; and tomato and cinnamon is Greek. Pad Thai is devoured by epicures and novice diners alike, because of how its flavor components are used to contrast and complement, fused and overlapped, creating harmonic balance. If the tart tamarind wasn’t offset with the subtle sweetness of palm sugar, faces would contort. If the fiery Thai chili peppers weren’t applied with discre-tion, eyes would widen. If umami-producing fermented soy sauce, nam pla (fermented fish sauce) and roasted peanuts were added too sparingly, it would miss.
Making Fusions Work
A trained research chef is able to intuitively place ingredients into one of the main pillars of flavor: predominantly sweet, salty, sour, hot and bitter. They recognize that sour “likes” sweet in equal proportion; salt complements pepper; and astringent or acid needs sweet or earthy flavors to balance it, hence the use of ginger with cilantro, or tomatoes with garlic.
Following that, it is important to identify ingredients that serve as a connector, or “bridge” flavor, which is key to suc-cessfully merging seemingly unlikely flavor combinations. Think of how vanilla does this with ginger and cocoa. In this manner, it is possible to understand some basic rules of combining flavors—without actually having thousands of flavor combinations memorized.
Mathew Freistadt, research chef, notes that sometimes, the fusion inspiration strikes simply because the combination
Freistadt points to the need to let inspiration and didactic knowledge harmonize. “The idea is to use your skills as a chef and scientist; seek out the main ingredients that make flavor; and don’t over complicate the formulation. Keep in mind the finished form you hope to achieve, and be aware of the functional limits that you can push.” He recommends starting with small batches of flavorants, then scaling up to a 1kg batch and adjusting accordingly.
Today’s formulator has a countless array of ingredi-ent options to consider, more than they did 30—or even five—years ago. If a tart note is desired, the formulator and ingredient provider can work together to fine-tune the degree of tartness and concept the taste profile to put together the overall experience, prior to choosing the actual flavors. For example, seeking tartness can lead to a fusion of lemony sumac or earthy-sweet amchur (a spice made from green mangos), or tangy and floral hibiscus or slightly bitter loomi (dried black Persian limes).
Even salt is not a simple matter, with the availability of smoked salts, sel gris, Himalayan pink or black volcanic salts, etc., providing subtle mineral properties not available from standard table salt. Saltiness can also come from soy, and even then one can approach a mushroom soy, fermented soy or other variation. Or, try a smooth-textured and deeply satisfying red miso powder accented with some granulated nori (seaweed) flakes.