The ultimate guide to seasoning
Let's start with some light theory
Together with your sense of smell and trigeminal nerve stimulation, your sense of taste determines the sensory perception of food. Taste sensation occurs when substances dissolved in saliva or water chemically react with taste chemoreceptors.
These chemoreceptors are found not only in the taste buds on the tongue, but also on the upper palate or in the laryngeal flange, and thanks to them, we are able to distinguish five basic tastes: bitter, sweet, salty, sour and umami.
The five basic tastes
In school, we are traditionally taught that there are four basic tastes. Things got a bit more complicated in the 2000s, when the the fifth taste - umami - was officially recognised. However, some theories suggest that there are as many as eight. These are the functions of the basic tastes:
1. Sweet
A universally popular taste, it makes sure that we choose food rich in energy. Sweet taste can also emphasise a certain flavour present in the food (e.g. sweetened juice has a stronger fruit flavour).
Its absence, on the other hand, gives the impression that the food is somewhat tasteless. Menthol chewing gum, after a while, seems to have no flavour - the menthol flavour molecules are still there, but the sugar has been chewed out.
2. Salty
The predilection for salty tastes is also innate - it ensures a necessary supply of sodium and other minerals needed for balanced functioning of the body (minerals are difficult for the body to manufacture and store, so they need to be taken in food).
Saltiness enhances other flavours without drawing attention to itself, and at the same time it tones down bitterness. The basic rule of thumb for ideal saltiness is if you taste salt in your food, it's over-salted. It's a paradox, but a dish with the perfect amount of salt shouldn't actually taste like salt!
3. Bitterness
This taste can act as a natural warning sign, drawing attention to the fact that an ingredient may be toxic. At the same time, however, many healthy foods have a bitter taste. We have yet to develop an innate affection for this flavour - instead we need to eat or drink our way into liking it.
4. Sourness
One of the functions of the sour taste is that it triggers the production of saliva, making food easier to chew, swallow and digest. This is why chefs try to have a sour component in every dish - it makes the food taste better. Acidity neutralises sweet and bitter flavours and pungency (if you've gone a bit overboard with the chilli, try sweetening and acidifying the food) and vice versa promotes saltiness - which is why some dishes may seem saltier after acidification.
Sour flavours are often underestimated compared to sweet and salty, yet they are just as - if not more - important. Often the foods we remember most are those that have two things in common: crunchiness and sourness. Plus, acidity makes food feel fresh and light, an effect best noticed in fish and seafood.
5. Umami
Dried meat, truffles, parmesan cheese, green tea...what do they have in common? The fifth flavour - umami (literally translated as "delicious") - was discovered in 1908 by Japanese professor Kikunae Ikeda, in kombu seaweed. Why does umami make any food taste great? Because of the taste of glutamic acid or its salt. A taste for umami does not need to be cultivated, it's innate - its presence in food is often signalled by proteins and amino acids.
Umami enhances the overall palatability of a dish, letting the cook save on salt, sugar and fat, which otherwise serve to build the complex flavours. Umami is very difficult to describe - precisely because it supports other flavours rather than being distinctive itself. It can be enhanced by sour tastes - Thai and Vietnamese cuisine, for example, work with this skilfully, adding lemon or lime to umami-laden dishes.
How to season?
And now the practical part. When seasoning, chefs like to use a combination of two flavours - sour and umami.
But you don't have to worry about fermentation, maceration, original dressings and the (un)traditional pairing of ingredients and spices. This makes it easy to unravel the flat taste of the food and prepare a great memory.
Which ingredients and tricks will elevate amateur cooking to culinary success?
Beer
It's easy to make an interesting flavouring from sweet black beer - just pour it into a jar and cover with a napkin or cloth, secure with a rubber band and leave to "weather" at room temperature. The alcohol will gradually convert to acetic acid and in about a month the beer will mature into a sweet and sour vinegar that will enhance sauces and dressings.
Yeast
The umami flavour in food is multiplied by fresh yeast, crumbled into broths, sauces, soups and spreads. Usually it is simply boiled in the liquid.
You can also try making a simple broth: 100g of fresh yeast is stirred into a litre of vegetable stock, brought to the boil and simmered for about 2 hours. It is then salted, sweetened and refrigerated to remove the clear liquid the next day. This is then added to sauces or reduced and used as a strong essence for delicate fish or grilled vegetables.
What about nutritional yeast? This can be added to sauces, dressings, spreads and pasta, or to the oil in which vegetable chips are coated and baked.
Citrus
Citrus zest is mostly grated into sweet recipes, but it's equally great for flavouring savoury dishes. You can stir freshly grated lemon zest into some dishes at the end (no chemical treatments!) for an elegant citrus freshness and flavour.
The aroma of lemon brightens up all sorts of sauces, and in the form of lemon salt it brings out the flavour of meats as well as offal such as grilled calf's liver. The pleasant acidity and bitterness of the citrus fruit also complements a classic tomato sauce, best done by simmering a whole, carefully peeled lemon in it. The white flesh is cut in half, grated into the base with sugar and finally blended in the sauce. Finally, the sauce is strained thoroughly through a colander.
Saffron
When people say saffron, they usually think of Italian risotto or Spanish paella. However, the world's most expensive spice also fits into traditional Czech cuisine and when used correctly, is a delicious addition to many dishes. Saffron can first be simmered in orange and lime juice, used to sour saffron mayonnaise or infused into wine. This then enlivens the flavour profile of various sauces.
Celery and onions
Celery is also useful for flavouring dishes, for example, in celery salt, which can be sprinkled on fried chips. The vegetable is simply dried, mixed with salt and sieved. Or make a thick celery demi glace, which is similar in consistency and flavour to meat sauce: fry celery cubes with tomatoes in a pan, cover them with red wine, reduce the mixture, pour in the celery stock and finally cook like a regular demi glace.
It also works as a flavour enhancer on roasted or grilled onions, whether in broth, sauces and soups, or in jams and chutneys.
Try making onion essence, a great complement to meat and vegetables:
- Prepare 3kg of onions, 400ml of port wine, 200ml of fermented vinegar, 200g of honey, a little butter and salt.
- Roughly chop the onions and grill.
- Cover with cold water and leave to simmer for 3 hours to make about a litre of stock.
- Bring the port, vinegar and honey to the boil and mix with the onion stock.
- Reduce the resulting liquid by about a third to intensify its flavour, then soften it with butter.
Homemade soy sauce
In the umami food category, mushrooms stand out, especially when left to ferment slightly. Slice them finely, sprinkle with 2% salt and seal them in an airtight bag or container. Left at room temperature for several days, they ferment and release a juice that will enrich salad dressings, for example. Brines of various pickles are also great for flavouring.
Tips from the Ambiente chefs:
- A favourite among flavourings is butter - it softens and completes the flavour of any sauce or gravy. An example is a basic tomato sauce for pasta, with a knob of cold butter thrown in instead of sugar. For even more intense umami, reach for brown or smoked butter.
- Salt in mayonnaise, marinades and dressings can be replaced by fish sauce. To intensify flavour, it is added to minced or stewed meat, but also to the filling of sausages for grilling.
- The flavour of a dish is interestingly drawn out with fermented and then dried vegetables such as kale.
- Don't throw out your parmesan crust or bacon rind! Boil it in soup or sauce - it's really good for the taste!
- Take turns with different types of pepper. For example, Madagascan pepper is good for scrambled eggs because it is a bit milder than the classic black pepper.
What does chef Jana Jelič advise?
- Don't be afraid to go sour, but at the same time keep in mind that you are changing the pH of your dish - for example it is harder to cook legumes in acid, the substances gel less and the acidity also lightens the colour.
- It's a good idea to use a little salt in any sweet dish.
- Focus on acidifying the dish first and then add the final salt.
- You need to add salt during the cooking process, not just at the end.
- An easy way to add umami is smoked maldon salt or nutritional yeast, or I like to use fermented cabbage juice or cooked whey.
The article was published in Apetit magazine.
