The Nature of Flavor and Flavorings Flavor is Part Taste, Mostly Smell The function of herbs and spices is to add flavor to our foods Flavor is a composite quality, a combination of sensations from the taste buds in our mouth and the odor receptors in the upper reaches of our nose And these sensations are chemical in nature: we taste tastes and smell odors when our receptors are triggered by specific chemicals in foods There are only a handful of different tastes — sweet, sour, salty, bitter, and savory or umami (p 342), while there are many thousands of different odors It’s odor molecules that make an apple “taste” like an apple, not like a pear or radish If our nose is blocked by a cold or pinching fingers, it’s hard to tell the difference between an apple and a pear So most of what we experience as flavor is odor, or aroma Herbs and spices heighten flavor by adding their characteristic aroma molecules (The exceptions to this rule are the pungent spices and herbs, which stimulate and irritate nerves in the mouth; seep 394.) Odors and the Suggestiveness of Volatility The aroma chemicals of herbs and spices are volatile: that is, they’re small and light enough to evaporate from their source and fly through the air, which allows them to rise with our breath into the nose, where we can detect them High temperatures make volatile chemicals more volatile, so heating herbs and spices liberates more of their aroma molecules and fills the air with their odor Unlike most of the objects that we sense around us, which we see or touch or hear, aromas are an invisible, intangible presence To cultures that knew nothing of molecules and odor receptors, this ethereal, penetrating quality suggested a realm of invisible beings ... Odors and the Suggestiveness of Volatility The aroma chemicals of herbs and spices are volatile: that is, they’re small and light enough to evaporate from their source and fly through the air,...or aroma Herbs and spices heighten flavor by adding their characteristic aroma molecules (The exceptions to this rule are the pungent spices and herbs, which stimulate and irritate nerves in the mouth; seep... which allows them to rise with our breath into the nose, where we can detect them High temperatures make volatile chemicals more volatile, so heating herbs and spices liberates more of their aroma