Nibbs XXVI (Page 45)

I was just reading an interesting tidbit on the science of taste and it actually answered the question of why chocolate and salt "go together".

It turns out that we experience the four classic senses - sweet, sour, salty, bitter - relative to each other. In other words, if the food we eat has 6 molecules of sour for every molecule of sweet, we'll experience the food as six times more sour than sweet. So adding a dash of salt to chocolate actually enhances the sweetness of the chocolate because we experience the sweetness of the chocolate relative to the small amount of saltiness.

So, Cat, next time you bake chocolate chip cookies, add a dash of salt into the dough. It should enhance the sweetness of the cookie.

D001 - 2008-10-23 8:05 PM

mchally - 2008-10-23 11:04 PM

D001 - 2008-10-23 8:01 PM

mchally - 2008-10-23 11:00 PM but then you wouldn't need to repost it for us. It would be a lost excuse to up your post count.

Speaking of which.... it didn't take you long to get to 2411 posts.

I have learned from the best.

So TinkerBeth taught you well, huh?

Actually, she spent a lot of the learning period moving. Me and lyssa did some chatting. And the Melon guys joined in from time to time.

D001 - 2008-10-23 11:17 PM

lastcall2003 - 2008-10-23 11:16 PM

so, about the salt and sweet discussion

Emily (esc) posted something very interesting in our challenge thread - ummmm, yeah, we talk a lot about food

anyhooo

I was just reading an interesting tidbit on the science of taste and it actually answered the question of why chocolate and salt "go together".

It turns out that we experience the four classic senses - sweet, sour, salty, bitter - relative to each other. In other words, if the food we eat has 6 molecules of sour for every molecule of sweet, we'll experience the food as six times more sour than sweet. So adding a dash of salt to chocolate actually enhances the sweetness of the chocolate because we experience the sweetness of the chocolate relative to the small amount of saltiness.

So, Cat, next time you bake chocolate chip cookies, add a dash of salt into the dough. It should enhance the sweetness of the cookie.

*sigh* I suppose you want me to go try this, or something. Got any Milanos?

just for you!

D001 - 2008-10-23 10:03 PM Actually, I don't think we've talked about pumpkin fudge tonight. That can be our next topic.

I saw a sign for pumpkin spice egg nog today. Umm, not getting it.

so, about the salt and sweet discussion

Emily (esc) posted something very interesting in our challenge thread - ummmm, yeah, we talk a lot about food

anyhooo

Did you know there's actually a fifth taste?

I was just reading an interesting tidbit on the science of taste and it actually answered the question of why chocolate and salt "go together". 

It turns out that we experience the four classic senses - sweet, sour, salty, bitter - relative to each other.  In other words, if the food we eat has 6 molecules of sour for every molecule of sweet, we'll experience the food as six times more sour than sweet.  So adding a dash of salt to chocolate actually enhances the sweetness of the chocolate because we experience the sweetness of the chocolate relative to the small amount of saltiness.

So, Cat, next time you bake chocolate chip cookies, add a dash of salt into the dough.  It should enhance the sweetness of the cookie.

sooooooooooooooooooo, what is it?

umami. It's a Japanese word for "savory" or "meaty".

More info here

sooooooooooooooooooo, what is it?

Oh dear. So you're telling me that the hundreds of fifth graders I taught were mistaught? Oops. Oh well, I did the best I could with the information I had at the time .

Oh dear. So you're telling me that the hundreds of fifth graders I taught were mistaught? Oops. Oh well, I did the best I could with the information I had at the time .