Salt

[Fugu]

Whenever I watch or read about food, I always come across people refer to "add salt for flavour". I often thought that flavour is, more or less, associated with our olfactory senses and not the tongue.

Now, from what I remember in science class, our taste buds tastes salty, sweet, sour and bitter, on different areas of our tongue. In cooking school, I learned about flavour builders such as a bouquet or herb faggots but no mention of salt was ever included as a "flavour builder".

I guess I am just knit picking but do watch cooking shows and listen to the host/hostess refer to salt as "to add flavour."

Just curious.

edited to add letter "k"

Edited July 28, 2007 by Fugu (log)

[srhcb]

Flavor is inherent, while Taste is subjective?

SB

[rooftop1000]

I see salt as a brightener or a high note. It also can add complexity, like when people salt watermelon it balances the sweetness. I also use cayenne pepper in a lot of things for the same high note especially when something doesnt need more salt but....something

then there are also different salts for different dishes

tracey

mmmm salted caramel

[Qwerty]

Well, you are pretty much right in what you said. Taste is really salty, sweet, sour, bitter, and umami. Flavor could be described as taste, texture and aroma.

Aroma plays a lot of a bigger part in how we perceive food than is generally known.

[mojoman]

In the US (where we don't add an extraneous "u" to words like flavor and honor), recipes read "salt to taste." Since there are salt taste buds, that seems like correct terminology, even for a nit picker.

Do your recipes actually read "salt to flavour?"

Edited July 29, 2007 by mojoman (log)

[Fugu]

In the US (where we don't add an extraneous "u" to words like flavor and honor), recipes read "salt to taste."  Since there are salt taste buds, that seems like correct terminology, even for a nit picker.

Do your recipes actually read "salt to flavour?"

←

Agreed. Canada is under British soveriegnty and this is the written language I've learned from schools. Favour and favor, honor and honour are accepted forms of these words. Ther are many more discrepancies Like center and centre.

Regarding "salt to flavour", the recipes I've encountered does as you've mentioned, "salt to taste", however I do encounter, from time to time, people writing that they add salt to give it flavour. Food network, understandably so, is the biggest culprit in the media.

I would understand it if people say "season it" since seasoning includes both flavours and taste.

Edited July 30, 2007 by Fugu (log)

[andiesenji]

In my experience, a judicious amount of salt will simply enhance the flavor of certain foods or make the taste more intense.

You can do a very simple experiment with whole wheat bread. (even though it already contains salt).

Cut a slice of bread into 4 sections. Taste one plain, then sprinkle the second with just a few grains of a slightly coarse salt (preferably kosher diamond flake or medium sea salt), spread a very small amount of unsalted butter on the third and if you have it, salted butter on the 4th or add a little salt to unsalted.

The piece of bread with the bit of salt will actually taste sweeter than the plain, which doesn't seem to make much sense but try it.

Potatoes have more of a potato flavor with the addition of a bit of salt, but not enough that all you taste is the salt.

Another example is dried beans, without salt they taste flat and flavorless, add a bit of salt and the flavor blooms.

As mentioned above, salting a very sweet melon will bring up more flavors than just the sweetness. And what it does for a ripe-in-the-garden tomato...........

When I was a child (back in the dark ages) we used to sneak into the apple orchard when the apples were still green enough to cause mouth puckering, but we each carried a bit of salt in a twist of waxed paper and adding a bit of salt made the unripe apples sweeter. This counts as one of the forbidden pleasures of childhood.. One apple was the limit, more would cause a tummy upset and reveal our guilt....

[syoung68]

Now, from what I remember in science class, our taste buds tastes salty, sweet, sour and bitter, on different areas of our tongue.

We taste all of these everywhere on our tongue. The tongue map has been <a href="http://www.livescience.com/health/060829_bad_tongue.html">proven to be false</a>. Additionally <i>umami</i> is now recognized as the fifth taste. Salt (sodium) adds to the umami effect or "mouthfeel". It is why a tomato tastes better with salt.

So, to your original flavor vs. taste, in the states most recipes do indeed say "salt to taste" but salt is the one ingredient that actually affects the <i>flavor</i> of other ingredients. Therefore, "salt to flavor" while not said often could still be considered appropriate.

Just my $.02

Edited July 30, 2007 by syoung68 (log)