Continuing on our journey over those papillae also known
as taste buds, we come to the flavor sensation favored by most people, the
perception of sweet. Whereas there are many individuals who dislike bitter,
salty or sour flavors, almost everyone likes sweet. No, make that ADORES sweet.
Or at the very least, we usually don’t detest sweet. Children if given
unsupervised, unrestricted access to sweets will literally consume until they
explode. Don’t think that’ll ever happen if they’re given platefuls of vinegar
and lemons or arugula and bittermelon or bottles of shoyu or patis. But give
them platefuls of doughnuts, candies and ice cream and they’ll eat themselves
sick at the very least.
And it’s not just those larval stage humans with this
affliction to sweets. You know who you are. Those of you with the dining mantra
of “life is short, eat dessert first”. I even live with one of you. The Mrs.
regularly views the dessert menu before choosing her appetizer or entrée. If
there’s a dessert selection (or two or three) that she just “needs” to sample,
she’ll order smaller or lighter appetizers or mains just to assure she has room
for the sweets. Which I don’t really understand since I’ve never had a sweet
tooth. I mean, the one dessert that I crave is Todd English’s Roasted Banana
Tiramisu that he used to serve at his Olives restaurant in the Bellagio in Las
Vegas. And because it’s a take on the classic tiramisu, it’s not really sweet
at all. I may not have the usual amount of sweet receptors as the rest of the
population or it may simply stem from an unfortunate childhood incident after I
consumed a whole, solid chocolate Peter Rabbit during Easter and ended up
getting to know the porcelain alter in the bathroom more intimately than I
wanted to… But in any case, sweet does have a role in taste and dining and once
again, it’s to balance those other flavor sensations.
The Obvious
Dessert obviously is where sweet plays a major role. But
your standard desserts are usually heavy just on sweet without any balancing
sour, bitter or salty. And after a large hearty meal, the last thing I want is
to be weighed down by excess sweet. The French did find a partial remedy to the
after dinner sweet by pairing it with alcohol. You see, alcohol is a
notoriously greedy molecule demanding that your liver process it before other
foods. Well alcohol can’t be processed by itself. It needs carbohydrate. And
sugar is a carbohydrate. So imbibing higher octane alcoholic beverages with
dessert helps to burn off some of those ingested sugar molecules so you don’t
have that prolonged after dessert sugar rush. But unless you imbibe beyond
reason, you won’t be able to burn off ALL of those sugar molecules.
But there is light at the end of the dessert tunnel. Over
the past several years pastry chefs have been using flaked sea salt in their
desserts to provide a textural and flavor contrast to traditional desserts.
Like topping chocolate covered caramels or simply adding it to caramel sauces.
And by now, who hasn’t tried chocolate covered bacon? When they first hit the
dining scene, it seemed like a temporary trend but the smoky and salty flavors
combined with the bitter and sweet flavors of dark chocolate. Yes, chocolate
and bacon is here to stay!
The not so Obvious
Of course when sweet gets added to savory dishes, it’s
not as obvious but as salt is a crucial element in desserts, so too is sweet a
critical element in savory courses. Just use a lighter hand when adding sweet
as the intent is not to make the dish taste sweet but using the sweet as a foil
to balance other flavor sensations. That’s why fruit chutneys make great
accompaniments to roasted poultry and pork dishes; a little sweet, a little
savory. Or why caramelized vegetables also enhance any savory dishes.
Caramelizing vegetables releases natural sugars but don’t give you that frank
sugar sweetness but more of a mellow caramel sweetness. When I’m pressed for
time and don’t have the 30 or so minutes to properly caramelize vegetables, I
reach for the next best alternative, honey. While honey does have a noticeable
sugar sweetness, using a judicious amount helps balance the other flavors
without making your savory course taste like a dessert. And now that I’ve found
agave syrup, I’ve also added it to my repertoire of sweet flavors for savory dishes.
Balancing the
Sweet
Ever since sampling the lemon pound cake at the Haleiwa
Coffee Gallery on the North Shore of Oahu, I set out on a quest for the perfect
lemon pound cake. Since my modified version is as healthy as desserts come,
I’ve made this on numerous occasions even for friends and family with dietary
restrictions – just keep the serving size reasonable. The sweet balances the
sour (lemon) and bitter (lemon zest) and if you sprinkle a little coarse sea
salt on the glaze, you’ll have four of the five major flavor sensations.
Tatsumoto Family
Secret Lemon Pound Cake
1 stick butter
2 & ½ cup sugar
2 teaspoon lemon extract
3 tablespoon macadamia nut oil
3 eggs
2 & ½ tablespoon lemon zest
¼ cup lemon juice (split into two 2 tablespoon portions)
3 & ¼ cup flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
8 ounce reduced fat sour cream
2 cup powdered sugar
3 tablespoon breadcrumbs
Mix softened butter with sugar. Add lemon extract,
macadamia nut oil, 1 & ½ T lemon zest and lemon juice (only 2 tablespoons).
Add eggs – one at a time – until thoroughly incorporated. Sift together flour,
salt and baking soda. Alternately add flour mixture and sour cream to
butter/sugar mixture. Start and end with flour. Grease Bundt pan and coat with
bread crumbs. Shake out excess bread crumbs. Put batter in Bundt pan and bake
at 350 degrees for 1 hr 10 minutes or until toothpick/bbq stick comes out
clean. Cool in pan for 10 minutes then on wire rack. Mix other half (2
tablespoon) of lemon juice and rest of lemon zest with powdered sugar and
drizzle on pound cake. Let glaze cool/harden before serving. Enjoy one slice.
This recipe is fully compliant with an ADA Step I diet. If you have more than
one slice, digest for 3 hours then proceed to engage in aerobic activity (HR at
least 75% of max HR) for 30 minutes.
Balance Your Buds
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