What A Nose Can Tell

As a cook, aroma is quite problematic, because we spend most of our time thinking about flavor—not smell—combinations. Smell happens in the kitchen, and flavor happens at the table. But flavor is actually inseparable from scent, a motion that happens at the same time while we taste our food. I laugh at the cooks that smell a pot and think they know if it is well seasoned. Just because smell is disassociated from flavour does not mean you should make it happen. One does not know if a sauce needs more salt by just smelling it. There is simply no way.

But the harsh reality is that we love eating sweet, salty, starchy things. Foods with any or all of these traits are generally perceived as tasty.

Chefs know this. That's why they use salt, sugar, and butter to make bean sprouts and cabbage more appetizing to unsuspecting, or perhaps willfully blind, diners.

Just to meet expectation of diners or whoever loves the smell of cooking, food fragrance was born with plenty of types and usages.

Scenting solutions for food and beverages

"When the aroma of baked bread was released in a US supermarket,

sales in the bakery section increased threefold". (Hirsch, 1995, IJA)

(Source: BimbyWorld)

Stimulating the sense of smell to buy products is not a new concept for those in the food industry. Bakers and patisseries have been using these techniques for many years. They understand that smell amplifies taste and the use of these smells can attract an otherwise reluctant customer. Studies show the sense of smell is the most powerful stimulus known and often provoke a strong emotional response meaning customers are more likely spend on impulse.

Food aroma to entice customers is not always possible. Packaged, canned or frozen food cannot be smelled, so scenting which resembles the food can be introduced to complete the experience. Grocery stores are also applying these techniques as modern refrigeration has eliminated the aromas that in the past let customers know that their produce was ripe and bread was fresh. While these advances helped greatly in promoting health and reducing spoilage, they also eliminated the wonderful smells that tantalized shoppers' palates and assured them of good quality.

Just choose a noticeable scent to create a memorable experience and lasting impression.

Perfumes to Sip as Well as Sniff

If  you think perfume’s only place is around the wrist or ears, take another sniff at that drink you just ordered. Scents are starting to show up in martinis, margaritas and much fancier concoctions, thanks in large part to Mandy Aftel, a former psychotherapist who now makes edible and potable perfumes.

Her vials of different essences sit behind the bars at luxurious restaurants around the country, as well as at New York City cocktail temples like PDT, Pegu Club and Booker and Dax at Momofuku Ssam Bar. Many bartenders believe the scents add one more dimension to the multisensory experience of a good drink.

(Source: www.whattheflicka.com)

Ms. Aftel said she has never experimented with the artificial ingredients that dominate the scent and flavor industries.

“It is the synthetic that stinks up the elevator,” she said. “I am not interested in scents that have that kind of staying power. A natural perfume costs more and disappears quickly, but while it lasts it’s extremely beautiful.”

Food fragrance – amplifying tastes even for fresh made dishes

Bottled like perfume, each Food Fragrance is a combination of essential food oils mixed with either alcohol or grape seed oil, making them perfectly edible and full of fresh, vibrant aromas. Flavors include various citrus fruits, spices, chocolate, flowers and even trees, all of which are designed to be sprayed over plates of food just before serving.

(Source: www.greatitalianchefs.com)

Successfully born by Antonella Bondi, an Italian architect who has made taste and fragrance her greatest form of creative expression. From this a new vision of cuisine has developed where taste is enhanced by the absolute naturalness of the essences.

Soon after Antonella began bottling and selling her sprayable scents some of Italy’s top chefs were using them in their cooking.

As with any new tricks professional chefs like to use in their restaurants, home cooks are eager to start implementing the same at home. ‘A few sprays over the top of something simple like a plate of spaghetti with black pepper and tomato can be made all the more satisfying thanks to the aroma of basil,’ explains Antonella.

When we pass over coastal area, we smell fish sauce from miles away; when we get into a traditional village where making coconut candies, does the sweet buttery smell wake your taste? Believe it or not, in every dainty dish exists a whole perfect culinary world, which must be enjoyed not only by tongues and eyes but also most important by noses because smell is the very first element that we people can sense; and therefore no surprises why food fragrances thrive.

By Thu Pham