[As published in July/August BayBuzz magazine.]
The straightforward question: “What do you think of when tasting food or developing a dish?” is actually pretty complex. So complex that the answers I received were long, intricate, and enmeshed with the cook’s own existential story. In search of clarity, my questioning has opened a box of further questions and intrigue.
My hope of discovering some mathematical formula whereby the zenith of taste and flavour combinations is (u+v) – w(2yx) where u,v,w,x and y are salt, umami, a pinch of paprika, zest of a lime have been dashed. I was naive. There is no definite formula.
What is apparent is that salt is actually many salts and umami is even more umamis. Sweet, bitter and sour clearly come in a plethora of possibilities as well and the combinations are endless. Literally.
The goal to find that harmonious combination is only one side of this dodecahedron-shaped story.
I asked three cooking professionals (myself included – I told you this was existential) the same question. Like a chef de cuisine seasoning the soup de jour, I’ve combined what they said and extrapolated on the best bits.
Kent Baddeley, chef, artist, revolutionary, provocateur, and friend, has been a cooking professional for about fifty years. His back-catalogue is vast and has won him many awards. He now cooks for private functions.
“In terms of the dish. It depends on the objective, so it’s too hard to answer. For example, sometimes flavours are to complement, as much as sometimes they are expected to jar! Taste, in my opinion, refers to my brain’s data handling and it’s unique to me. It’s a part of my DNA.”
Kent tells me, “The one objective of each dish is to delight. But a principle remains: I want to show the hero of the dish in its best clothes on a night out, and its accompanying friends are there to support and nourish it.”
Mike Moloney, caterer, charcoal king, champion of good produce, (and friend!) is the brains and the passion behind Silence of The Lambs Catering, specialising in spit roasting over lump charcoal.
“The charcoal, rubs, and dressings impart a flavour that should enhance rather than over-power the meat. Honest – sometimes simple and sometimes complex – flavours, which are clearly discernible, are at the essence of what we do.”
Flavour then needs to be honest, and it’s innate and unique to us. We need to trust our palate and not be thrown by what other people say tastes good or by flavour enhancers that get in the way and disrupt our intuitive knowledge of what we like, want and need.
I’ve been catering for seventeen years and prior to that I’ve been involved in the food industry and farming food for forty years. Taste and flavour to me is about balance, whether a seamless mesh or an opposing balance like raw fish and wasabi, salt and vinegar crisps, apricot chicken, lemon sorbet. Some folks might like a cheesy bechamel on their pad thai!
It is quite literally a matter of individual taste. We all have a unique perspective. In the same way that you and I may agree that a fence is painted green we have no way of establishing that we see that green in the same way. Likewise a sour drink, or a sweet dessert, or a salty bacon rasher will be perceived by each of us in slightly different ways. Coriander is an excellent example, for some it makes the dish, for others it ruins it.
The third element in the mix is texture. I love peanuts. I do not enjoy peanut butter. Same ingredients, but the texture impacts the mouth-feel and flavour. Texture plays a big part in our enjoyment of flavour. Our mouths are curious and our eyes are superficial – we like looking at pretty, or interesting or intriguing food and then we want it to entertain our taste buds … we like variety and surprise. So those elements are at play before we even scoff the banoffee. If it looks yum and the texture is unctuous then we’re into it even before it hits our tongue.
The problem with lots of food that’s easy to eat and bad for us, is that it’s got crunch and it looks attractive. The flavour is faked so it’s tricking our brains. And we’re dumbing down that inherent knowledge humans have for knowing if something is nutritious and safe to eat.
As I said, there’s no secret magic formula for flavour. Kent says he must have made 100,000 unique dishes in 50 years, and that’s because there are untold combinations of a whole world of ingredients and no one is the same as the next. The staples we all lean on – salt, citrus, spice – bring out the best in other ingredients, they are our help-mates when it comes to cooking.
But the best way to find out the flavours you – personally and individually – love is to try a lot of them and to not be swayed by the so-called experts among us.
Ian Thomas is a caterer and formerly free range egg farmer, cooking demonstrator, and manager of a commercial food production business. He specialises in cooking paella. paellaagogo.com