For your delectation, here’s a (big) snippet about flavors I sent a friend who’s just starting to cook. It’s a summary of the section on building flavor from Wayne Gisslen’s “Professional Cooking,” 6th edition. I find it to be a fascinating way to think about flavor: his heuristics are useful, but the part I find most exciting is his attempt to convey an almost literary view of culinary narrative. (Is it time to plug The Table Is Laid: The Oxford Anthology of South Asian Food Writing again? *grin*)

While Dornenburg and Page (Culinary Artistry) has certainly been an indispensable reference for me in day to day use — I refer to its lists of classic combinations constantly –, it is not a good introduction. In contrast, Wayne Gisslen lays a decent foundation for thinking about building flavor in and across dishes. Here’s the summary you’d asked for. It’s mostly paraphrased, with some quotes where indicated and my comments in parens:

Appearance, texture and nutrition are important, but the first metric of good food is flavor.

The most important flavors are those of the main ingredients. The combination of ingredients builds a depth of flavors, and the harmony of flavors and aromas is called the flavor profile.

Flavors are either primary and secondary/supporting. Primary flavors predominate a dish. They are generally the flavors of the main ingredients, and usually the first ones tasted. Secondary flavors should add depth and dimension to enhance the primary flavors.

As an example, consider a veal blanquette: (quoted)

Veal is milder and subtler in flavor than other meats, and in this dish it is simmered (yielding a still milder flavor than dry heat methods). So the dish needs to be constructed to counteract this, and to avoid masking the main flavor. Using white veal stock as the simmering liquid intensifies the primary flavor. Water would be too bland, brown stocks would overwhelm the meat, and chicken stock, while not harming the main flavor, also would not strengthen it. Onion and bouquet garni (French simmering herbs) add body and aromatics to the stock, while still being mild flavors.

To finish the dish, roux (flour sauteed in butter), a cream-and-egg mixture (liaison), lemon juice, nutmeg, and white pepper are used. The roux thickens the stock and mostly contributes to texture, though the butter in it adds some richness. The cream liaison adds texture and flavor (veal and cream is a common/classic combination in French cuisine). The lemon juice helps avoid the sensation of excessive, unpleasant richness. In terms of balance, the dish shouldn’t taste lemony, but should only have enough lemon juice to not feel too rich or heavy. A tiny amount of spices can add complexity, without having identifiable flavors. If the dish smells clearly of nutmeg or pepper, it was too much.

Concepts of flavor building: (quoted)

  1. Every ingredient should have a purpose. Start with main ingredients and think about what will work with them. Continue to build flavors, using just the ingredients you need.
  2. Ingredients work together by harmonizing or by contrasting. In the example above, the rich taste of the liaison and the mild taste of the veal harmonize. The tartness of the lemon, on the other hand, contrasts with the cream.
  3. When two ingredients contrast, be sure they balance. For example, add just enough lemon juice to the blanquette to balance the cream, not too much or too little.
  4. Consider not only the components of the single recipe, but also the other items that will be served with it on the plate. For example, think about how we use lemon to balance the richness or fattiness of the cream in the blanquette. We can use the same idea to balance the fattiness of a pork paté or sausage by serving it with a tart mustard or chutney on the side. In other words, think of building the flavor profile of the entire plate. Plan sauces, accompaniments, and garnishes to balance, enhance and contrast with the main item and with each other, just as the flavors in an individual recipe do.

Simplicity v. complexity: more ingredients make you have to work harder to keep them in balance, and to keep the primary flavors from getting lost. When complex flavor profiles work well — Indian and Chinese spice blends are his example –, the ingredients blend well and it’s generally hard to identify individual spices, e.g. Classic flavor profiles from cuisines around the world are a good guide to what flavors combine well. (Many of my more successful “complex” flavors have been from altering classic combinations by substituting ingredients with overlapping flavor profiles (seeking points of divergence), or marrying classic combinations that share important taste elements (seeking points of convergence). –N.)

Gisslen (somewhat unusually) differentiates between seasonings and flavorings. The main ingredient should be the primary source of flavor. Seasonings enhance or augment a food’s flavor without significantly changing it. Flavorings add new flavors not present in the food. This is often a matter of degree, for which he talks about salt in most food as seasoning, but in potato chips as flavoring.

Guidelines for seasoning: (quoted)

  1. The most important time for seasoning liquid foods is at the end of the cooking process.

    The last step in most recipes, whether written or not, is “adjust the seasoning”. This means you have to first taste and evaluate the product. Then you must decide what should be done, if anything. Often, a little salt in a stew or a dash of fresh lemon juice in a sauce is enough.

    The ability to evaluate and correct flavors takes experience, and it is one of the most important skills a cook can develop.

  2. Salt and other seasonings are also added at the beginning of cooking, particularly for larger pieces of food, when seasonings added at the end would not be absorbed or blended but just sit on the surface.
  3. Adding some of the seasoning during the cooking process also aids in evaluating the flavor along the way.
  4. Do not add much seasoning if it will be concentrated during cooking, as when a liquid is reduced.

Guidelines for flavoring: (quoted)

Flavoring ingredients can be added at the beginning, middle, or end, depending on the cooking time, the cooking process, and the flavoring ingredient.

  1. Only a few flavorings can be added successfully at the end of cooking. These include fresh (not dried) herbs, sherry or flamed brandy, and condiments like prepared mustard and Worcestershire sauce.
  2. Most flavorings need heat to release their flavors and time for the flavors to blend. Whole spices take longest. Ground spices release flavors more quickly and thus don’t require as long a cooking time.
  3. Too much cooking results in loss of flavor. most flavors, whether in spices or in main ingredients, are volatile, which means they evaporate when heated. That is why you can smell food cooking.

He concludes that herbs and spices should cook with the foods long enough to release their flavors but not so long that their flavors are lost. If cooking times are short, you can generally add spices and herbs at the beginning or middle of cooking time. If cooking times are long, it is usually better to add them in the middle or toward the end of cooking time.

Then he warns that food safety experts recommend adding dried spices and herbs at least 30 minutes before the end of cooking so any microorganisms they might carry will be destroyed. (This seemed kind of pro forma to me, particularly since he goes on to talk about using them in salads.)

Guidelines for using herbs and spices: (quoted)

  1. Be familiar with each spice’s aroma, flavor, and effect on food. Looking at a spice chart, including the one in this book, is no substitute for familiarity with the actual product.
  2. Store dried herbs and spices in a cool place, tightly covered, in opaque containers. Heat, light and moisture cause herbs and spices to deteriorate rapidly.
  3. Don’t use stale spices and herbs, and don’t buy more than you can use in about six months. Whole spices keep longer than ground, but both lose much flavor after about six months.
  4. Be cautious after you have replaced old spices. The fresher products are more potent, so the amount you used before might now be too much.
  5. Use good-quality spices and herbs. It doesn’t pay to economize here. The difference in cost is only a fraction of a cent per portion.
  6. Whole spices take longer to release flavors than ground spices, so allow for adequate cooking time.
  7. Whole herbs and spices for flavoring a liquid are [can be] tied loosely in a pieces of cheesecloth (called a sachet) for easy removal.
  8. When in doubt, add less than you think you need. You can always add more, but it’s hard to remove what you’ve already added.
  9. Except in dishes like curry or chili, spices should not dominate. Often, they should not even be evident. If you can taste the nutmeg in the creamed spinach, there’s probably too much nutmeg.
  10. Herbs and spices added to uncooked foods such as salads and dressings need several hours for flavors to be released and blended.
  11. Taste foods before serving, whenever possible. How else can you adjust the seasoning?