The Flavor Star

How do chefs get the flavors right? How do they balance sweet with sour? Or add a dash of unami in a dish? They may have help - not just from the spice rack but also from the flavor star. It's appropriately named because for many chefs and home chefs it's their guiding North Star.

The Flavor Star is a chart showing the five flavors - salty, sweet, bitter, sour and unami, that savory taste usually associated with meats. namely steak.Using the chart can help in leveling a recipe's complex array of flavors , along with improving a dish's taste.Flavors can enhance each other. For example add a dash of salty to sweet and you've got a sensation. Home bakers for centuries have known that a pinch of salt brings out a cake's sweetness, Ramp that up a notch - add a dash of sea salt to chocolate chip dough or caramel and their sweetness plus other flavors such as chocolate and butter intensify. Here's an experiment you can try that exemplifies it. Take a heaping teaspoon of a caramel, topping - Smuckers is the best - and sprinkle some small nuggets of sea salt on top. Now eat the whole dollop, Yes, you do taste the salt, it's the first thing that hits you  - but you also taste the sugar and cream as if for the first time. Another example is the addition of something sweet to a salty tomato sauce.Without sugar, honey, or even carrot slices, the salt might be too tangy and even unpalatable.With the sweeteners, the sauce  is mellowed, savory without any lingering harshness of flavor.

You can download and print out the chart if you want. It's easy to remember what to do. If a savory broth  is too blah or bland, then give the dish a dash of soy sauce or miso. Anchovy paste is both unami and salty It is wonderful on steak (as any Piedmontese chef will tell you) . It brings out the meat's rich mineral flavor. It also brings out the flavor of vegetables, such as Savoy cabbage and Swiss chard. For a tasty sauce for these and even London Broil, make bagna calda, a Piedmontese "hot bath" primarily made of anchovy fillets., butter, olive oil, and garlic. The food's flavor will be the best you've ever had and you'll wonder why you didn't try this sauce before. As for foods being too bitter, a dash of sweetness helps. Even vinegar such as balsamic and apple cider can cut a savory dish's sour taste. You can also stir in a drop of maple syrup or dark honey too. If you don't have those then ketchup or barbecue sauce will do. Sour balances out spice and sweetness. If a dish is just too hot them  flick a teaspoon of sour cream or yogurt on top of it. As we all know spicy also helps both sour bland and even sweet bland. A chocolate cake with a kick of chili pepper makes for an exciting dessert. It just using the flavor star for a memorable bite.

 Make the Flavor Star your North Star. Use it to create memorable meals, desserts, and treats.  They'll be remembered for their incredible tastes.