7 Insights from Taste Professor Peter Klosse
What makes a dish truly delicious? Why does one combination work and another doesn't? And how do you develop recipes that keep people coming back for more? According to taste professor Peter Klosse, it all starts with a different way of looking at taste. Those who understand how taste works make better choices. Seven insights that will change your perspective on ingredients, recipes, and dish development.
1. Taste is not an opinion
As long as taste and tasting are both seen as something personal, it seems as if there is no arguing about taste. But taste is a product characteristic, just like color. As a result, taste can not only be tasted, but also consciously developed. This effectively makes food professionals taste creators: they consciously steer the taste of the end result.
2. You taste with all your senses
Tasting is much more than what your tongue perceives. Scent, mouthfeel, sound, and presentation also determine how a dish is experienced. The crunch of a crust or the aroma released upon serving influence the taste experience just as much as sweet, sour, or salty.
3. You have to learn to taste
You build taste knowledge through experience. The more often you taste a product, the better you learn to recognize and assess quality. For food professionals, tasting extensively is therefore essential. For guests, they will appreciate new ingredients or unfamiliar textures more when you introduce them step by step, in combination with familiar flavors.
4. Successful dishes have more in common than you think
Research into successful dishes shows that they have a striking number of similarities. There are six culinary success factors that increase the appeal of a dish. The more of these factors come together, the greater the chance that a dish will be perceived as delicious by many people. At the same time, personal preferences play a role. Those who understand how taste works can consciously respond to this.
5. A good dish is a composition
A dish is a composition of flavors, just as a painting is a composition of colors and a piece of music is a composition of sounds. Delicious is not a coincidence, but the result of carefully made choices. Sometimes ingredients enhance each other, sometimes they counteract each other. The art is not in adding more, but in knowing what role each ingredient plays.
6. A recipe is a tool
Those who understand taste also look at recipes differently. Recipes provide guidance, but should not be prescriptive. Only when you detach yourself from a fixed list of ingredients can you reason from taste and adapt the preparation to the product at hand. Which technique brings out the best in this celeriac? Techniques and recipes ultimately serve taste, not the other way around. If you cannot name the added value of an ingredient, it is usually not an improvement. Sometimes omission is the best choice.
7. Knowledge of taste leads to better choices and combinations
More knowledge of taste helps you make more conscious choices. Not only in developing dishes, but also in wine and food pairings and menus. Always look at the whole picture. Not the main ingredient, but rather the preparation, garnishes, and sauce often determine which flavors go well together. In general, dish and drink enhance each other when their flavor profile, mouthfeel, flavor intensity, and flavor style match. In terms of menu structure, build from crisp to coating, from fresh to ripe, and from a low to a high flavor content.