YOU CAN'T FAKE TASTE !!!

 Session II : BUILDING FLAVOR. Fats, Aromatics, Salt, Herbs, Acids and Heat. F.A.C.T.

This session will teach you the various ways of building flavors. From the use of Aromatics like onions, garlic, shallots, ginger, etc, to fresh Chilies and Herbs. We will also cover acids like vinegars and citrus juices as well some salty and smokey ingredients. Specifically cover Salt, Heat, Fat, Umami.

The impact of Heat as a flavor enhancement/ different kinds of fats and oils/ the application of Acids and Umami flavoring. All the above applies to diferent techniques and regional cooking ( US, Asia, Spanish, Southwester,Italian, Indian, etc) Spice guides will be covered and you will learn. the combinations that have stand the test of time. Brining as a flavor tool.Spice Chart is provided.

F.A.C.T. Is a program I developed in my early years as a Chef. You are basically destructuring a dish after is made to see if it meets standards of excellence. This is applies to every single item you are making in your kitchen. Yes, Is your Kitchen. It is easy and the program becomes automatic in your head when you start planning your menus and cooking your food Is fun.

F ( Flavor ) A ( Aroma ), C ( Color/Consistency ) T ( Texture ) and the combining of it all

You will use spice charts and learn what goes with what . The interactions of flavors and enhancements. When and how to use spice and aromatics , and learn how to work the F A C T program, apply the Elements to different dishes and styles of prep/techniques.

After going through the outline and the session ( hopefully the session on Methods of Cooking you will realize and learn that these are the Basics of all you want to cook, No need to reach for a recipe once your pantry stocked and you know what you want to eat. It becomes routine before you realize it..

This session starts with a review of basic flavors. Up until 2002, scientists recognized 4 ‘official’ tastes:

1) salty; 2) sweet; 3) sour; and 4) bitter. However, in 2002 Umami became the fifth flavor. Umami simply means yummy in Japanese, and it’s hard to describe what the flavor of umami tastes like. For simplicity sake, we are lumping it with salty because they share a lot of the same flavor attributes.

When we talk about "building flavor"

We don't necessarily mean adding or changing the ingredients in the recipe. We're also talking about cooking techniques that create depth and character in a dish.
These are basic techniques that you'll find yourself using again and again as you grow as a cook:
1. SEARING THE MEAT When cooking meat, taking time to sear the outside will add a heavenly depth of flavor to your final dish.
2. DEGLAZING THE PAN That dark layer at the bottom of your pan might look like burned food, but it's actually caramelized bits from everything you've been cooking. Once they've been deglazed, these bits melt into the background and form a savory flavor base in your dish
3. CARAMELIZING THE ONIONS - Like searing and deglazing, caramelizing onions and other vegetables by cooking them slowly gives your dish depth and adds interesting smoky and nutty flavors to your dish.
4. TOASTING THE SPICES- This brings out the natural oils in the spices and boosts their aroma in the final dish. It's most effective to toast whole spices and then grind them
5. REDUCING THE SAUCE- Reducing concentrates all the flavors in a sauce. High, middle, and low notes become heightened, which enhances the overall taste of the sauce.
6. SALTING TO TASTE- Salt reduces our perception of bitterness in dishes. If you've already added all the salt called for in the recipe, try adding a pinch of salt or more and then see if you notice a difference.
7. ADDING ACIDIC AND SPICY INGREDIENTS-These also accentuate the high notes. If you've already added salt and you still think your dish needs "a little something," try adding a squeeze of lemon, a splash of vinegar, or a few shakes of Tabasco Sauce.

8. ADDING A SPLASH OF WINE- Similar to adding an acidic ingredient, a splash of red or white wine can brighten the flavors in your dish.

These are BASIC STEPS, like building a house. Bypass the foundation or the roof YOU DONT HAVE A HOUSE . THERE ARE CERTAIN SHORTCUT that will come in time that may combine the steps or bypass one of tem to be added later. BUT THET ARE ALL THERE AS PART OF THE FINISHED PRODUCT,

BUILDING THE FLAVOR

AROMATICS

Aromatics are combinations of vegetables and herbs (and sometimes even meats) that are heated in some fat – like butter, oil, or coconut milk – at the beginning of a dish. The heated fat helps these ingredients release addictive aromas and impart deep flavors into the dish that’s being cooked.
Sauces, braises, curries, rice dishes, sautes, stir-fries, soups, stews, and stocks all typically start off with aromatics, which help form the flavor foundation of these dishes.
Most cuisines have a traditional combination of aromatics.

In French cooking, the combination is the classic mirepoix — the holy trinity of onions, carrots and celery that are sautéed in butter as the base of so many dishes. Parley, thyme, bay leaves, herbes de provence
Italian cuisine uses the same combination of vegetables sautéed in olive oil, calling it soffritto. Garlic, parley, sage, prosciutto, pancetta, wine.
Spain and Latin America sofrito always includes tomatoes , garlic, onions, bell peppers. Olive Oil and lard. Cilantro, Chilies,Bacon, chorizo, ham, cumin, paprika,vinegars.
Cajun Cooking highlight onion, celery and peppers in their Cuisine. Butter and olive oil,garlic, shallots, parsley and paprika.
Cooks from non-European traditions work with a wider and more varied palette of aromatic vegetables and spices.
A typical Indian base mixture for a curry may contain onion and garlic, hot chiles, and chopped ginger. Ghee is their favorite fat ( clarified butter ). Also chives, cumin, garam masala and tumeric. And just before liquid is added, sophisticated hand-blended curry powders are added and quickly sautéed to release their fragrance.
Indonesian cooks have an especially exotic base mixture—called bumbu—that includes shrimp paste, powdered galangal (an aromatic rhizome similar to ginger), and kemiri (or candlenut), an oily nut that gives a particularly unctuous texture to Indonesian stews.
Chinese favor garlic,scallions, ginger,, shallots, chives, chilies, cilantro, star anise and five spice. Neutral oil, and sesame oil.
Thai cooks make one of several types of curry pastes for their flavor bases. The pastes are made by grinding together aromatics like shallots, lemongrass, chiles, and kaffir lime leaves. Neutral cooking oil and coconut milk.

Any mouthwatering dish, no matter what the cuisine, no matter what the regional influence, is built upon a great flavor base.

When you ar making your menus, think of where you are going and apply the aromatics. Your dish start to become clear in your mind.
We provide you with a flow/step diagram that makes it very easy for you to follow and start the system.

Aromatics or aromatic vegetables are usually divided into "subtle flavor boosters" and "in-your-face flavor boosters." How those ingredients are cooked and when they are added to the pot involves a two-step process that softens them and brings out flavor.
Subtle flavor boosters are the "slow-cooking things that go in at the beginning … that can really cook for a while. Everything in the onion family, leeks, different types of onions, (plus) carrots, celery, bell peppers, etc. They're sturdy enough that they can be sauteed without risk of burning, or they can be sweated."

When they are sauteed over moderate heat, you'll get "a bit of flavor from browning as well as the release of the juices. If you put a lid on the pan, you'll sweat them: "You're really concentrating the flavors but not adding any of the flavors that come from browning."

Once the subtle aromatics are cooked, the in-your-face flavor boosters — i.e., garlic, ginger, tomato paste — are added. These are more prone to burning and scorching.
Adding spices to hot fat allows them to bloom, releasing some of their flavor compounds. Since many spice compounds are soluble in fat rather than water, it's important to add them to the pot before adding liquids like broth or wine. All these bases are best cooked at medium or medium-low. DON'T BURN THE BASE

Once you've built a great flavor base, then you can add your own signature.

How a flavor base is cooked will vary by region

Again ,a flavor base is usually added to a dish at the very beginning of cooking. Typically, it is cooked in fat until the flavors are released, but subtle differences in cooking methods can change how a flavor base affects a dish.

Usually, especially in European cooking, flavorful base mixtures are gently “sweated” before liquids are added. The distinction between sweating and sautéing is an important one, because sautéing, with its emphasis on high heat and rapid cooking, is designed to seal the flavor of the vegetables within the vegetables, while sweating, which is cooking over low heat, is designed to get the vegetables to release their flavor so that it ultimately ends up in the surrounding liquid.
Traditional directions for sweating vegetables call for covering the pan so the moisture and aroma from the vegetables is entrapped and the vegetables don’t have a chance to brown. But for some dishes, it’s useful to first cook the vegetables gently, covered, and then remove the lid and allow the vegetables to slowly caramelize before adding liquid. This caramelization gives soups and sauces a richer and more complex flavor and a deeper color.
What size pieces should I cut?

The size you cut the individual components of a flavor mixture depends on how long the mixture will cook and if it will be puréed. The French make a big deal out of demanding that a classic mirepoix be cut into very tiny dice (called brunoise)—a handy way of torturing beginning culinary students. But there’s actually a sound reason for chopping mirepoix into small pieces for a quick-cooking dish: the smaller pieces will release their flavor more quickly during the short cooking time. On the other hand, mirepoix for a pot of long-simmering stock can consist of very large pieces of vegetables—onions cut in half, whole celery ribs, and carrots in chunks.
For the same reason, other cuisines call for mincing aromatics like ginger and lemongrass that are too fibrous to eat in large bites; but for a long-simmering dish, those aromatics might be left whole and slightly crushed, and then removed after cooking. Size also affects the look of a dish; if you’re making a light sauce and you don’t intend to purée it, you’ll want to cut your aromatics in small, neat pieces for an attractive final presentation.

IMPORTANT TIPS
Do stir: "Don't just throw everything in and walk away. You don't have to stir constantly, but give it an occasional stir. Be ready to adjust the heat if you feel it's going too slowly or too quickly."
Don't toss everything in at once: "Think about things that really are going to benefit from more time and those that are going to benefit with less time in the pot."
Take care: "Be careful with the carrots and the celery. Celery can get very grassy and a little bitter. That can be a good thing depending on what else is coming, or it can be a bit much. And carrots can get very, very sweet.
Saute or sweat: Depends on the dish. "The flavor's different. You've got a sort of more pure vegetable without all those sort of Maillard reactions, browning, caramelization. … Or maybe the dish is lacking if you don't brown those vegetables. It depends on what is coming later."
Size matters: Similarly sized pieces (of onion, carrot, celery, leek) will cook in about the same time. "You don't want to put in 1-inch pieces of celery and grated onion at the same time — that's probably not going to work."

xxxxThis is a classic example from my training days ( Way Back ) Will always hold true.xxx

 The three dishes that follow each use a flavor base to make a unique sauce. The chicken is sautéed first, and then it finishes cooking in the sauce. We’ve used the same technique for cooking the chicken in all three dishes to illustrate how much a change in a flavor base can affect a final dish. The Classic French Chicken in White Wine Sauce  starts with a classic French mirepoix. The Indian Chicken with Coconut Milk uses chiles, curry and ginger and the Chicken with Mexican Charred Serrano Tomatoes Sauce starts with vegetables and peppers that are charred in a cast-iron pan with no fat .As you can see Aromatics add the characteristic flavors of a particular cuisine.

THIS IS A GREAT SAMPLE FOR COOKING SMART ( YOU ARE BASICALLY COOKING 3 COMPLETE DIFFERENT DISHES AT THE SAME TIME-IMAGINE DOING THE SAME WITH BEEF-PORK-SEAFOOD. YOU HAVE 12 SINGLE DINNERS-DONE) YOU HAVE A FAMILY OF 2 OR 3. JUST DO THGE MATH. SAME STEPS , SAME PROCEDURES. YOU JUST MADE DINNERS FOR THE WHOLE WEEK IN 2 HOURS OR LESS -DEPENDINDING IF SOME ITEMS ARE NOT READY TO EAT BUT READY TO COOK.
We have a ** COOKING SMART SESSION ** is great for cooking for a family. Saves you time and money. Allows you to cook a great variety of dishes and stock them for days ahead

HERBS
Dried Herbs & Spices. This is a partial list( it does not mean you need them all )

• Achiote Reddish-brown paste or powder ground from annatto seeds with an earthy flavor. Used primarily in Latin American dishes like sofrito, mole sauce, cochinita pibil, and tamales.
  

• Allspice- Similar to cloves, but more pungent and deeply flavored. Best used in spice mixes.
  

• Bay Leaf- Adds a woodsy background note to soups and sauces.
  

• Caraway Seed - These anise-tasting seeds are essential for soda bread, sauerkraut, and potato salad.
  

Cardamon- This warm, aromatic spice is widely used in Indian cuisine. It's also great in baked goods when used in combination with spices like clove and cinnamon.

• Cayenne Pepper d and ground red chili peppers. Adds a sweet heat to soups, braises, and spice mixes.
  

• Cinnamon - Found in almost every world cuisine, cinnamon serves double duty as spice in both sweet and savory dishes.
  

• Cloves - Sweet and warming spice. Used most often in baking, but also good with braised meat.
  

• Coriander Seeds- Earthy, lemony flavor. Used in a lot of Mexican and Indian dishes.
  

• Cumin- Smoky and earthy. Used in a lot of Southwestern U.S. and Mexican cuisine, as well as North African, Middle Eastern, and Indian.
  

• Fennel Seeds eet and licorice flavored. It's excellent with meat dishes, or even chewed on its own as a breath freshener and digestion aid!
  

• Garlic Powder r is made from dehydrated garlic cloves and can be used to give dishes a sweeter, softer garlic flavor.
  

• Ginger - Ground ginger is made from dehydrated fresh ginger and has a spicy, zesty bite.
  

Gochuraru - This Korean red pepper spice is hot, sweet, and ever-so-slightly smoky.

• Kaffir Lime Leaves- Used to flavor curries and many Thai dishes. Can be sold fresh, dry, or frozen.
  

Nutmeg- Sweet and pungent. Great in baked goods, but also adds a warm note to savory dishes.

• pastas, and other dishes to add a nutty, cheesy, savory flavor.
  

• Oregano, somewhat lemony flavor. Used in a lot of Mexican and Mediterranean dishes.
  

You know what you like so store your pantry according to what you are going to use regularly. Do the same with fresh herbs, spice blends and mixs.

FRESH Herbs

• Basil - Highly aromatic with a robust licorice flavor. Excellent in pestos, as a finishing touch on pasta dishes, or stuffed into sandwiches.
  

• Chives - Delicate onion flavor, great as a garnish.
  

• Cilantro- From the coriander plant, cilantro leaves and stems have a pungent, herbaceous flavor. Used in Caribbean, Latin American, and Asian cooking. .
  

• Dill - Light and feathery herb with a pungent herb flavor. Use it for pickling, with fish, and over potatoes. .
  

• Lemon Thyme - Sweet lemon aroma and a fresh lemony-herbal flavor. This is excellent with poultry and in vinaigrettes. .
  

• Bouquet Garni- Thyme, parsley, and bay leaf. Used to flavor broths and soups. (Classic French)
  

• Chili Powder- Ground chilis, cumin, oregano, cayenne, and lots of optional extras to make this seasoning uniquely yours. Use for chili, stew, beans, grilled meat, and tacos. (Mexican/Southwestern U.S.)
  

• Chinese Five Spice Powder - Star anise, Szechuan peppercorns, fennel, cassia, and clove. Adds sweetness and depth to savory dishes, especially beef, duck, and pork. (Chinese)
  

• Curry Powder- Typically includes turmeric, coriander, cumin, fenugreek, and red pepper, but mixes can vary. Used primarily to quickly flavor curry sauces. (Indian)
  

• Dukkah - Includes nuts (most often hazelnuts), sesame seeds, coriander, and cumin. Great spice rub for lamb, chicken, and fish. (Egyptian)
  

SALT

*** As an ingredient in dishes, salt plays two very important roles. First, it reduces bitter flavors. Second, because it reduces bitterness, adding salt allows the aromas and tastes of the other ingredients in your dish to shine through.

BRINING Salt is also used to add succulence and juiciness to meat, poultry, and fish through brining. Immersed in a brine solution of salt and water, the proteins in poultry or fish will unravel, freeing up space for some of the salty water to be absorbed and retained. With a dry brine, the salt is rubbed on and left to sit on the meat overnight. The salt rub draws moisture out to-the skin, where the salt crystals dissolve into a mild brine. Eventually, this brine also becomes absorbed in the meat. Both dry and wet brines offer up the same benefits—a heightening of flavor and moistness.

FATS
Although we hear a lot about BAD FAT , that is not so. Most of them are good. They relate specifically to nutrients and flavor. My rule, read the label. Example; Read the ingredients for real butter and the artificial one and figure who will die sooner
The type of fat used to cook the base mixture will also influence the final flavor and sometimes even the texture of a dish.
The French generally cook mirepoix in butter.
A Provençal cook will probably use olive oil (and add garlic to the ingredients) / a cook in Gascony might cook the vegetables in duck or goose fat / an Alsatian cook may use lard.
Asian cooks might use coconut or peanut oil, and Indians are known for their flavorful ghee (toasted clarified butter). While Italians also use whatever fat is most abundant in their region (butter, olive oil, lard, or even the rendered fat from a prosciutto or pancetta rind)
Mexican cooks often don’t use any fat at all. Instead they dry-roast garlic, onions, and chiles on a comal, a kind of flat, heavy roasting pan. The comal gives the vegetables a distinctive and delicious toasted flavor.
Once the flavor foundations in a dish have been laid down, the cook can build the kind of dish they wants—a stew, a soup, a sauce, or a braise. Adding liquids like coconut milk or chicken stock can enhance the dish’s flavors one step further, and the final dish will have the distinctive character of a particular cuisine.

OLIVE OIL
Which is simply juice pressed from olives, tastes great when it’s fresh. The highest grade, called extra-virgin, is lively, bright, and full-bodied at its best, with flavors that range from peppery to buttery depending on the variety of olives used and how ripe they are when harvested.
HARVEST DATE: Since a “best by” date might be 24 to 32 months after the oil was bottled and 1 to 2 years after it was pressed, a harvest date is a more precise indication of freshness. Look for the most recent date, and note that in Europe and the United States, olives are harvested in the fall and winter, so most bottles will list the previous year.
TIPS -DARK GLASS: Avoid clear glass; dark glass shields the oil from damaging light. Avoid clear plastic, too; it’s not a good barrier to light or air.
OIL ORIGIN: Bottlers often print where their oil has been sourced from on the label; look for oil that has been sourced from a single country.

GRAPESEED OIL. This is my general use oil Not only does it have a high smoke point, making it great for sauteing and frying, but it’s also healthy:packed with vitamin E and linoleic acid (also called omega-6)

ACIDS

Definition of Acid ? Any substance that measures less than 7 on the pH scale is an acid Taste and you can tell. We all have tasted sour before,right. Then it is Acid. By itself it really sucks but if you balance it with other foods it brings out other flavor

Most dishes are a balancing act of flavors, which is why recipes often instruct you to season to taste with salt and pepper at the end. ( Do Salt First ) . Doing Salt and Pepper together often leads to disaster. Many also suggest seasoning with lemon juice or another acid like vinegar. This is because acid plays an important role in brightening flavors if they are flat or bland, reigning in sweetness, or toning down richness, just as it balances the oil in a vinaigrette. So the next time a dish is too sweet or flat or rich, try adding a touch of acid before you reach for the salt.

Sometimes you want to taste the acid, such as when you squeeze lemon over a piece of fish. Other times the effect is more subtle, as acid can balance a dish and tease out other flavors without calling attention to itself:

How to Use Acid to Make Your Food Taste Better

Don't get lost on any of this, your taste is the ultimate judge. From the times of the caves to the time our Mothers and Grandmas fed us , to now when you cook at home we have used acids in just about everything we cook. Is a matter of taste REMEMBER , just like salt, a little bit at a time. Then taste, maybe a bit more and taste gain til you know you got it.

UMANI,

A quality of meaty savoriness that brings depth to many dishes, is widely considered the fifth taste. These umami-enhancing ingredients boost the flavor of whatever we’re cooking

Soy Sauce

Anchovies
Worcestershire Sauce
Tomato Paste
Mushrooms
Olives
Parmesan Cheese
Broth/Stock

Beef broth is rich in umami-enhancing compounds, but beef stock goes a step further...

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PS.. Great tool for a commercial kitchen. You need to enhance knowledge, ALWAYS