Taste, Flavor, and World Cuisine
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Taste, Flavor, and World Cuisine
How understanding the elements of taste and flavor—and how
they’re interpreted around the globe—can help you bring balance,
inspiration, and creativity to your kitchen. And help you become
a better cook.
You know when something tastes good—and when it just doesn’t. But do you know
how to harness the power of flavor to transform you culinary creations into recipes
your family and friends will crave? Knowledge of the key tastes will help you to
balance them within each dish and across an entire meal. Even top chefs make
mistakes—but luckily you can use the function of our four tastes to troubleshoot.
Once you have the basics mastered, take a trip around the globe from the
comfort of your kitchen to see how playing with world cuisines can take your meals
to the next level. Let knowledge of tastes, flavors, and world cuisines give you the
freedom to be more creative in your kitchen.
The Four Tastes
While we often think of flavor and taste as the same thing, there is actually a
scientific and culinary difference between the two. Sweet, salty, sour and bitter are
the four tastes which are sensed through your tastebuds. All other flavors (such as
floral or earthy note) are ones that you sense through your nose. This is why, when
you have a cold, almost everything taste bland and one dimensional. Use theses four
main tastes as the base of your flavor knowledge.
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Taste, Flavor, and World Cuisine (continued)
Function Function
Nature’s flavor enhancer, Sour and acidic tastes
salt brings out all other make other flavors bright
flavors and ingredients and sharp
Example Example
Miso, olives, seaweed, Lemon, vinegar, citrus,
sea salt cranberries
Pairs well with... Pairs well with...
Enhances all other Salty Sour Enhances all other
flavors flavors
Sweet Bitter
Function Umami Function
Sweet flavors add roundness to Bitterness makes food taste
savory dishes sharper
Example Example
Fruit, maple syrup, beets Dark chocolate, bitter greens,
(dandelion, broccoli rabe),
Pairs well with...
horseradish
Bitter
Pairs well with...
Sweet and salty
What is Umami?
In the transition to a plant-based lifestyle, there may be some days
that a salad just won’t cut it. On those days, rely on the 5th taste:
umami. While there is some debate in the culinary community
about whether umami is a real taste, there is something to be said
for the properties of savory or meaty ingredients.
Mushrooms, nutritional yeast, soy sauce or tamari, tomato paste,
smoked paprika, or mesquite contribute umami, and can give any
plant-based dish a more savory, hearty taste. Umami is a low note
that will cover your tongue after you finish a soup or sandwich.
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Taste, Flavor, and World Cuisine (continued)
Finding Balance
A dish must have balance to be satisfying. If one flavor is too prominent, the
entire dish can feel inadequate or flat. Using a musical analogy, the following four
elements work in harmony to make a dish taste complete.
LOW NOTES
Deep, earthy notes form the base, or canvas, on which other flavors are painted. A
savory broth, rich mushrooms, or herbs, such as oregano and sage, can give a dish
its low notes.
MID NOTES
Not immediately identifiable, these flavors may add other elements, like color and
texture to a dish. Raw celery or tofu are good examples of mid notes—their taste is
neutral but enhanced by both low and high notes.
HIGH NOTES
You taste high notes first—they pop out at your first bite. Citrus, spicy peppers, and
bitter herbs like horseradish, have high notes.
ROUND NOTES
To bring low, mid, and high notes together, you need something salty and/or
something sweet. These two enhance the other flavors, and bring a sense of
completion to a dish.
PAIRING
Another way to find balance is to pair one element of taste with its exact opposite.
Try pairing:
Sweet + Bitter
Salty + Sour
Hot + Cold
Raw + Caramelized
Richness (fat) + Relief (sour/bitter)
Creamy + Crunchy
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Taste, Flavor, and World Cuisine (continued)
Troubleshooting
You just spent an hour in the kitchen, and there’s just something not quite right about
the finished product. You can’t quite put your finger on it, but it could probably best
be described as flat or bland taste. Let’s apply what you’ve just learned about taste
and flavor to get to the root of such dilemmas—and make you feel like a culinary
genius for taking dinner from okay to awesome.
If it’s too rich… Add an element of bitterness.
Horseradish, arugula, or broccoli
rabe (rapini) can help to add
sharpness to your meal.
If it’s too heavy… Add an element of sour.
A squirt of lemon or lime juice
brings a little acid to cut through
heaviness
If the flavors don’t sing... Try a pinch of sea salt.
Salt enhances all other seasonings,
drawing out flavors otherwise lost in
the crowd.
If it’s too bitter... Try caramelizing the onions or garlic
to bring out their natural sweetness—
rather than their pungency.
If you can’t tell one spice Try toasting the spices before
adding them to your dish.
from the next...
Toasting dry spices—or sautéing
curry pastes or dried chilies in a
little oil—draws out natural oils to
enhance their aromas and taste.
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Flavors of World Cuisine
Flavors can define a culture. Every region within a country has its own unique play on
local and traditional ingredients that create a flavor profile that represents home for its
citizens, and acts as a kind of cultural signature for visitors. The beauty of this diversity of
flavor profiles is that, by incorporating them into a base recipe, you can easily transport a
dish to another part of the world.
Play around with these common flavor themes in your kitchen using the Base Noodle
Bowl, Quinoa Cakes and Dragon Bowl recipes found with this lesson.
French
French cuisine contains earthy, heavy flavor notes complemented by a focus on fresh
herbs. Truffles (and other mushrooms such as chanterelles, porcini, and even humble
button mushrooms) add a rich, meaty taste to any plant-based meal. Apple cider vinegar
and wine bring lightness to heavier herbs. (Don’t worry—the alcohol content in wine is
cooked off before serving!)
Apple cider vinegar Herbes de Provence* Rosemary
Sage Shallots Truffle oil/Truffles
Typically savory, fennel, basil, thyme, and lavender,
herbes de Provence varies from chef to chef. This is
the most common version of it, but some can also
include marjoram, tarragon, bay leaf and rosemary.
Wine Play around to find your favorite combination.
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Flavors of World Cuisine (continued)
Greek
The islands of Greece have long embraced their olive, nut, and lemon trees in
creating dishes that revolve around these light flavors. Look for cold-pressed extra
virgin olive oil, and sample a wide range of fresh olives to see the small nuances in
flavors they can provide.
Almonds Garlic Lemon
Olives* Olive oil Oregano
Paprika Parsley Pistachios
Beyond kalamata olives, explore olives that are brined,
salted, sundried, marinated, or pickled; green, black,
large, small, firm, or buttery.
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Flavors of World Cuisine (continued)
Italian
The smell of tomatoes roasting with garlic, olive oil, and basil can instantly transport
you to Italy. These are balanced by balsamic vinegar and spicy chili flakes.
Balsamic vinegar Basil Chili flakes
Garlic Oregano Tomato
Onion Olives Olive oil
Parsley
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Flavors of World Cuisine (continued)
Japanese
Most Japanese dishes rely on a balance of sweet, salty, and umami tastes. As you
transition to a plant-based diet, incorporating more umami flavors from soy sauce,
mushrooms, and seaweed can give you the hearty taste you crave.
Daikon Ginger
Citrus (pickled or fresh) (pickled or fresh)
Mirin
Green onion/scallion Rice vinegar
(sweetened rice wine)
Sesame seeds Sesame oil Soy sauce or Tamari
(gluten-free)
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Wasabi
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Flavors of World Cuisine (continued)
Japanese (continued)
Miso is fermented from either soy, barley or brown rice. As
you’re shopping you’ll notice that there are many different colors
Miso*
as well—ranging from white, to yellow to red. Darker colors are
generally stronger in flavor. You can select the type of miso
depending on how much you want this umami taste to stand
out in a recipe.
There are many different types of seaweed to choose from.
Kombu is a thick seaweed often used to flavor soups and beans.
Arame and wakame make a delicious addition to salads and stir-
Seaweed* fries. Nori is used to make sushi rolls, or can be crumbled onto
salads. Play around with different types of seaweed, depending
on your recipe.
Mushrooms add a savory earthy taste to your dish. White
Mushrooms* button mushrooms have the most mild flavor. Enoki mushrooms
have a delicate flavor that is often added to salads. Shiitake
mushrooms are traditionally used in Asian soups and have a
deep earthy flavor. Oyster mushrooms have a smooth taste that
resembles seafood. There are many other varieties—look at your
farmers market for locally foraged mushrooms!
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Flavors of World Cuisine (continued)
Middle Eastern
A sweet, earthy warmth is characteristic of Middle Eastern dishes. Look in
specialty grocery stores for fresh turmeric—its vibrant orange/yellow color helps
with the presentation of any dish.
Almonds Cinnamon Cumin
Dried fruit Garlic Onion
Turmeric
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Flavors of World Cuisine (continued)
Mexican
Lime accents and lightens most Mexican dishes, while cumin brings earthy
warmth, and a spectrum of chilies create heat. The Mexican flavor profile includes
elements of sour, spicy, and bitter tastes, and most signature ingredients can be
found in your local grocery store.
Chipolte chilies Cilantro Cinnamon
Cumin Corn Green onion/scallion
Jalapeño Lime Onion
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Flavors of World Cuisine (continued)
Southeast Asian
While there are numerous regional nuances as you travel from Laos to Malaysia to
Thailand, there are several flavor elements that remain consistent across borders.
Here you’ll see a blend of spicy, sour, salty, and sweet tastes.
Chilies Cilantro Coconut milk
Garlic Ginger Lime
Lime leaf (or lime zest) Lemongrass Shallots
Curry paste has a much richer taste than simple curry
powder. Look for red, green or yellow curry paste
in the Asian food aisle of your grocery store or in a
Red curry paste* speciality store.
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