TART FLAVORED PLEASURES

 

                                        Tart flavored pleasures

 

          Basic food flavors have been recognized for millennia by our ancestors as sweet, salty, sour, or bitter.  More recently the umami flavor has been recognized as a separate‘delicious savory taste’ exemplified by Oriental soy sauce.

          While smell contributes to our enjoyment of food, our mouth has specific taste buds on the tongue and roof of mouth to recognize these four basic flavors of sweet, salty, sour, and bitter. Humans have between 2,000 and 8,000 taste buds, demonstrating their importance in taste recognition for flavor and detection of undesirable matter. Individual genetics creates further variation in our ability to recognize flavors, such individuals who find the taste of cilantro soapy. Overall flavor sensitivity is determined by the number of taste buds that regenerate every 7-10 days adapting to your diet, so that when switching to a low salt diet you will find it more acceptable after about a week.

          Sour, one of the basic tastes can be overwhelming as in trying to suck a lemon. But as a tart flavoring agent, it adds a bright tone to any dish. It has a cooling effect on spicy dishes and in hot summer weather. For those of us trying to avoid excess salt in our meals, it allows to reduce salt content without sacrificing flavor.  Lemon pepper can become a real asset in any kitchen.

                                                   Veal piccata

          Pound four 3 oz. veal cutlets between plastic wrap with the flat side of a mallet to very thin. Salt and pepper each one, dip on both sides in ½ cup flour spread out on a plate and shake off excess flour. Wash and thinly slice a lemon.

          Heat 2 tblsp. butter in a large pan and when hot, not smoking, fry the cutlets 1 ½ minutes per side.  Set aside on a covered plate. Pour ½ cup dry white wine in the pan to scrape and cook to reduce in half, about 3 minutes.  Add ¾ cup low salt chicken broth, 8 slices of lemon, 1 tblsp. lemon juice and ¼ cup drained capers. Cook until reduced again by half, swirl in 1 tblsp. butter and pour over the cooked veal. Serve garnished with parsley.

                              Wilted curly endive or escarole salad with pine nuts

          Toast ¼ cup pine nuts on a hot pan with shaking for a couple of minutes.

Wash a bunch endive/escarole, pat off most water with a towel and cut off an inch of the bottom stems to separate the leaves.

          Heat 2 tblsp. olive oil in a wok and sauté 2 chopped garlic cloves for 30 seconds. Add torn salad leaves in batches and ½ tsp. salt, tossing until slightly wilted, Stir in juice of 1 lemon and pine nuts. Take off heat, stir in ¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese and serve.

                                                   Rhubarb cobbler

          Wash, wipe dry and slice in ½ inch pieces 4-5 rhubarb stalks, enough to make 3 cups. If rhubarb stalks are very fat, cut thinner pieces. Toss with ½ cup sugar and 2 tblsp. flour.

          In a large bowl cream ½ cup room temperature butter with ½ cup sugar. Beat in 1 tsp. orange extract, ¼ tsp. nutmeg, ½ tsp. salt and ½ cup milk, the mixture will look curdled. Stir in 2 cups flour mixed with 2 tsp. baking powder. With a wooden spoon or large spatula mix in the rhubarb mixture in the thick dough and turn into a well buttered 8x8x2 inch baking pan.

          Topping: with a pastry blender work 4 tblsp. butter with ½ cup brown sugar, ½ tsp. cinnamon, ¼ tsp. nutmeg and 1/3 cup flour to form a crumbly mix. Spread the topping on top of the cobbler and bake in a 375-degree preheated oven for 50 minutes, until a toothpick tests dry. Serve cut squares of the cobbler warm or to ‘gild the rhubarb’, with a scoop of ice cream.

          Now for the trick question:” Who has the most taste buds?’ Answer: Catfish have 175,000 taste buds and can taste water from a mile upstream.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        

(I. Winicov Harrington lives in coastal Maine and is the author of “How to Eat Healthy and Well for Less than $5.00 a Day:” and “Uncharted Journey from Riga”; website: www.winicov-harrington.com)