Questions on understanding and manipulating the flavor of foods.
6
votes
4answers
6k views
How do you coat almonds in wasabi and keep it spicy and crunchy? (my wasabi paradox)
I've been trying to make wasabi and soy sauce almonds, like the ones you find at the store (Blue Diamond) but the only recipe I've found (food.com) is very underwhelming. Despite using varying ...
6
votes
1answer
188 views
Is it a good idea to grind dried oregano with a mortar and pestle?
Someone explained to me that I could increase the surface area of my herbs significantly when grinding them in a mortar with a bit of salt. It is indeed quite easy to grind them down to a powder. I do ...
6
votes
1answer
395 views
What makes bourbon a decent substitute for vanilla?
In the accepted answer to this question, it was said that bourbon can make a half-decent substitute for vanilla. I fail to understand how because the primary flavor component is vanillin and as far as ...
6
votes
2answers
1k views
How to reduce bitterness of Basil?
I had some fresh Basil which was going dry, so I decided to make it into a sour cream dip (don't ask me why I didn't think of making a simple pesto before I added the sour cream).. The final product ...
5
votes
6answers
1k views
What is a good vegetarian source of umami flavour?
I'm looking for a source of the umami flavour to add to various dishes. However, since I became vegetarian I can't think of a good source for the flavour.
I used to use Worcestershire sauce, or Nam ...
5
votes
2answers
277 views
Apple Cider is too sweet for gravy
Hey. I'm in Vermont. We have lots of apple ciders and lots of amazing apples (let me recommend this year's lady apples...bet on 2010 Cider! )
I've been roasting local chickens, and then deglasing ...
5
votes
4answers
7k views
How can I quickly save a tasteless curry?
I made a curry last night for this evenings meal.
The main components of it are aubergines, yoghurt, ginger, tumeric, cumin and chilli.
After cooking it I tasted it and it is sadly quite tasteless. ...
5
votes
1answer
463 views
Which part of yellow cake batter gives it the yellow cake flavor?
We recently made a cobbler by adding oil, water, and powdered yellow cake mix (from a box) on top of sugary fruit filling and it came of the oven crispy and delicious with that distinctive yellow cake ...
5
votes
2answers
327 views
Why does tea become bitter if brewed too hot or too long?
To try to narrow the scope and help deduce an answer to this question, I'm wondering:
Why does tea become bitter if brewed too hot or too long?
5
votes
2answers
194 views
Flavor notes of olive oil varietals?
I prefer extra-virgin olive oils with fruit and grassy notes, rather than the peppery back-of-the-throat flavors that some folks enjoy. Are there particular olive varietals that are more likely to be ...
5
votes
3answers
3k views
How do I cook radicchio to make it taste less bitter?
Although I like the basic taste of radicchio a lot, I frequently get heads that are so bitter as to be basically inedible. Can you suggest some cooking techniques that are particularly effective at ...
5
votes
1answer
90 views
How should I order unknown wines in a tasting
I hope this is not too off-topic.
We are doing a wine tasting soon, where everyone presents a wine (assume all red, dry). As there will be a wide variety of types, I think the order is quite ...
5
votes
3answers
171 views
How would I add heat to a brine?
I am interested in making roast chicken with a bit of a kick. I'm thinking about adding heat to the brine, but I'm not sure what the best way of doing that would be.
How would brine work with hot ...
5
votes
3answers
3k views
Counteracting a metallic taste in canned tomatoes?
I used some canned tomatoes to make chili, which normally works fine, but today it has a really strong metallic flavor. From what I can tell, this is just because they're probably low-quality, so I ...
5
votes
3answers
956 views
Why is my icecream bitter?
I am new to making homemade ice cream. I just started to feel confident with plain vanilla, so it was time for the next step - adding fruit.
The custard recipe says it can be turned into fruit ice ...
5
votes
2answers
342 views
Frozen yogurt flavor pairings
I like to make homemade yogurt and I am experimenting with timing to get my yogurt to be not so sour but still completely set. Yogurt is, by definition, quite acidic since that is what sets the ...
5
votes
1answer
740 views
How to prevent food colouring changing the taste of food?
I am a keen baker with a big sweet tooth. I often use coloured icing and sponge when I bake, but often the colouring I use changes the taste of the icing/sponge.
Does anyone know how to prevent the ...
5
votes
3answers
370 views
How to create fruity or grassy shortbread cookies?
I saw a recipe for green tea shortbread cookies with white ganache filling and fell in love with it. But here, it is quite hard to get any matcha, the few Amazon marketplace sellers have very high ...
5
votes
2answers
249 views
pre-soaking tea in cold water prior to brewing
My friend recently gave me the advice that tea bag should be soaked in a little bit (barely enough to submerge the tea bag) of cold water for a couple of minutes. Then hot water should be added to ...
4
votes
11answers
4k views
Masking the grass flavor of green tea
I would like to start drinking green tea regularly.
Unfortunately I am much more of a coffee drinker than a tea drinker. On top of my general apathy towards tea I happen to think that green tea in ...
4
votes
6answers
4k views
What Common Or Uncommon Flavors Pair Well With Chocolate? [closed]
I'm familiar with the traditional combinations of orange, mint, and raspberry and a few of the new flavors such as chillies and bacon. What other ideas are there though?
4
votes
4answers
2k views
What causes chicken fat on the surface of soup, and does it add flavor to the dish?
I was making a Japanese ramen soup recipe which involved cooking raw diced chicken thigh in the soup for a few minutes. Soon after adding the chicken to the soup, globules of fat started appearing on ...
4
votes
4answers
4k views
How to remove the bitter taste from green bell pepper?
Green pepper has a more bitter taste than red or yellow pepper. (I hope you see what I mean, please tell me if not)
Are there tricks to remove or diminish this bitter taste? A special way of cooking, ...
4
votes
2answers
6k views
How does one remove the “fishy flavor” from seafood?
My sister really doesn't like a strong fish flavor and is very picky. Are there any effective ways to prepare the seafood in such a manner that reduces the fishy flavor/taste? If "seafood" is too ...
4
votes
6answers
246 views
Possible Pumpkin Flavors
I am hoping to try out cooking with pumpkin this year and only know a) not to buy jack-o-lantern varieties for cooking, and b) about making it into sweeter things like pies, cakes, cookies et cetera. ...
4
votes
2answers
6k views
What is bakery emulsion and how is it different from flavoring extract?
I was in Ross for Less and saw (and bought) a bottle of lemon bakery emulsion because it just sounded good. Looking online it seems that it is a one for one replacement for extract, but I have not ...
4
votes
4answers
189 views
What helps against astringent mouthfeel from spinach or chard?
Spinach and chard dishes, if prepared from fresh veggies, have a somehow astringent mouthfeel, that can be unpleasant. Does anybody know what exactly causes this mouthfeel chemically and/or knows a ...
4
votes
2answers
712 views
Lamb's Gamey Flavor
Lamb has long been one of my least favorite meats due to its gamey flavor. However, some lamb dishes that have been prepared for me tasted great with very little gamey flavor. But I have never been ...
4
votes
2answers
6k views
How to get rid of the taste of flour in homemade bakery?
I usually get random cookie and cake recipes from the internet and try them. They are good but all of them have floury taste to me. Possible culprits are the flour I use and how I mix and bake dough. ...
4
votes
1answer
124 views
What preparation is done to banana peppers?
I only recently moved to an area (Northeast Ohio) where banana peppers are a common topping on pizza and sandwiches, and have discovered I quite like them. When used as a topping, if I were to grow ...
4
votes
4answers
170 views
Reducing the saltiness of commercially prepared seasoning
I've been cooking a certain brand of noodles, and noticed that the seasoning provided is quite salty than you'd expect. Is there a way to reduced the saltiness without a noticeable change in flavor? ...
4
votes
2answers
237 views
How to help my vegetable beef soup that I added too much tomato to?
I was making my homemade vegetable beef soup and put too many cans of tomato sauce and paste in it. My husband says it is a tomato soup instead of a vegetable beef soup. What can I do to improve it?
4
votes
1answer
265 views
How does the shape of an espresso cup affect the flavor?
Similar to the question:
Why do drinks drunk from a glass instead of a bottle taste differently?
Where the top answer notes the logic behind each glass for a particular drink:
Wine glasses, for ...
4
votes
3answers
603 views
What's the best way to learn what each seasoning is?
For example, Iike cayenne pepper is spicy and marjorum has a smoky flavor. I just want to learn the different flavors of each seasoning, so I can know exactly what seasonings to use for the different ...
4
votes
2answers
518 views
What's the point of using sugar in savory dishes?
I never get why people add a sweet substance to a savory dish. Especially in something like a a curry or noodles. People say it balances out the flavors. But which flavor is it actually balancing out? ...
4
votes
4answers
228 views
How do you make sure aubergine doesn't go bitter when cooking?
Sometimes aubergine and courgette tastes fine when cooked as is, but other times they are so bitter that they're almost inedible. I've tried dry salting and leaving the slices in salt water beforehand ...
4
votes
1answer
345 views
What's the secret ingredient in beef jerky?
I've been making beef jerky using various marinade recipes I found on the WWW. The results have been mixed, but always lack that one distinct flavor that seems so prevalent in store-bought jerky. If I ...
4
votes
2answers
308 views
Meat and fruit dessert
I'm having an event where one of the rules is that every dish has to contain both fruit and meat. I've spent the last half hour pondering as to what should I prepare as dessert.
Question: What makes ...
4
votes
1answer
430 views
How to make flavoured salt for potato chips
A chips shop offers potato chips (french fries, in the US) in different flavour like chicken, chicken roast, bar b q, et cetera. I saw they make simple potato chips and then add a salt type stuff to ...
4
votes
1answer
170 views
Does butter reduce perceived sweetness?
In another question I ask about the ideal flour, sugar, butter ratio to use in crumble. It appears that the amount of sugar people add in their recipes depends more closely on how much butter is added ...
4
votes
2answers
3k views
What does vanilla extract add to a recipe?
I have been cooking for a while and have noticed small amount of Vanilla extract needed in cakes, cookies, muffins, even a smoothie recipe. Often times I forget the Vanilla or don't have any. What ...
4
votes
4answers
545 views
roasted garlic vs. raw
Without giving it much thought, I've always roasted garlic for use in cooked preparations (hummus, spaghetti sauce, garlic bread, etc.), and used it raw for uncooked preparations (salad dressings, ...
4
votes
1answer
164 views
How to make a sauce using sugared citrus rinds?
I finally separated the citrus rinds (orange and lemon) from the citrus sugar. All the bits of rind are small. With them I was planning on making a citrus sauce to go on top of my brownies and was ...
4
votes
2answers
347 views
What does 6% acidity taste like?
A friend and I have been doing research on a recipe and he encountered a statement to the effect that the result should be around "6% acidity." I am not familiar with what this would mean in the ...
4
votes
2answers
655 views
How can I use white pepper without having the odor dominate the food flavour?
I received several different pepper (spice) for christmas. One of them is a white pepper. Whenever I use (very) little of this white pepper in my dishes, the odor/flavor is very dominant cutting out ...
3
votes
7answers
312 views
How to add flavor to potato soup (using minimally processed ingredients)? [closed]
I've made my first potato soup and it has no taste.
Just to get an idea this is how I made it: chopped and onion and a carrot and place them with some oil to fry. After the onion got brown, I added ...
3
votes
7answers
7k views
How can I improve the flavor of spinach?
I bought some frozen plain spinach yesterday and got the one without creme sauce, to reduce the amount of fat. Tried to cook it today with some salt and a little bit of butter, but the result was very ...
3
votes
3answers
973 views
Counter to bitterness in soup
My minestrone turned out too bitter. How can I counter it? The soup contains tomatoes, pasta, Savoy cabbage, celery, carrots, burnt sautéed garlic, thyme, oregano, salt and pepper.
Sugar seems to be ...
3
votes
3answers
443 views
Does splitting spaghetti in half change the taste?
I've heard that splitting spaghetti in half before cooking them change the taste. Is it true?
3
votes
3answers
4k views
culinary difference between dill and fennel
Many salmon recipes use Dill (Anethum graveolens) as the usual ingredient as condimentary herb.
In my place, I have fennel (Foeniculum vulgare) available outdoors, so I opt to use it instead. And I ...
