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Terminology

These are some of the key concepts and words used to describe flavors. It is important to understand some of the nuance about these terms as it is very difficult to communicate flavor through language. The more terminology on understands the more nuanced one can communicate the properties of a flavor and categorize the flavor in terms that are communicable.

Key concepts

Palate- The ability to appreciate flavor, this is often used both to describe foods that are preferences as well as the ability to distinguish detail.
Herb- Most often leaves and flowers of plants for flavoring usage that are preferred to be fresh and undried, a subset of spice that gives more clarity to the part being fresh.
Spice- Any plant part used primarily to impart flavor to food, also used to indicate the plant part is dried, herb is preferable to indicate fresh plant parts, but the terms are mostly interchangeable.

Safety

unpalatable- Describes when something tastes bad to the degree that no one wants to eat it, this is not an indication something is toxic, and is often confused with toxicity
Toxicity- When something is unsafe to eat, as well as the degree, and reasons that it is unsafe.
Edibility- Some plant parts are only edible after processing, or in certain forms, this effects the edibility and use of those parts.

Flavor descriptions

Phenomenological

These are effects on the palate, where one feels a sensation often accompanied by a flavor.

Astringent
Tannin
Numbing
Spicy
Piquant- The English language lacks nuance when describing something as spicy as in flavorful versus spicy as in producing a hot feeling on the palate.
Insipid- lacking flavor or lacking balance in flavor when flavors taste nondescript, for instance because too much is going on at the same time. Can occur as a side of effect of Piquant and Numbing effects.

Taste

Flavorful

Fatty
Vegetal Herbaceous Medicinal Floral Powdery Woody Earthy citric musty Dry- The perception that the flavor is dry and dusty, often like the smell of a pantry or flour, often used to describe wood and grain flavors.
Dark- Optionally also called wet, the feeling of moisture or wetness to a food, like it comes from a watery source used to describe .
Heavy- a feeling of having the scent of a flavor on ones breath, smelling it when one breaths in and out, after consuming it. Often accompanied by a feeling of the air of ones breath being thick. Often used to describe flavors with high molecular weights like base

Aroma

The following terms are borrowed from the terminology used in perfumery, these terms are also useful when describing flavors especially because of their similarity to aroma.

Aldehyde- These have the lowest molecular weights and often are elusive and hard to describe, they easily overpower other flavors and are still uncommon in flavor use.
Top- Low molecular weight flavors like citrus and some floral flavors. They tend to last a very short time on the palate and have bright and dry connotation. These can easily overpower other flavor categories.
Middle- These are the notes in between the heavy and light flavors. They easily become nondescript when mixed in complex mixes but are important to make balanced flavors.
Base- Long lasting and heavy flavors, often having very high molecular weights lasting a long time on the palate, these can easily disappear and play a background role when mixed with other flavor profiles.

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