Melt, don't Munch
Eating fast: How quickly you eat chocolate has a big effect on how you experience its flavor. When eating chocolate the way you might have learned as a kid - chewing and munching in a few seconds - you will definitely miss out on a big part of the flavor profile.The reason is that the fat - which holds much of the falvors, and makes up around 45% of the total ingredients of a 70% bar - has no time to melt properly. When you do not allow the fat in the chocolate to melt, the flavor delivery period is very short and the chocolate seems to have a very limited flavor profile and a disappointing, fast end.
Eating slow: When eating slow - and not chewing the chocolate - you will allow the fat in the chocolate to melt properly, allowing full flavor development. Beacuse of this, the chocolate - if made with high quality cacao with no defects and carefully crafted - will continue to taste good even long after you've finished eating.
Smelling & Tasting
Taste: There is much more to taste than what your tongue can detect. In fact, the tongue is actually quite limited in the range of sensations it can detect. Sweet, Sour, Salt, Bitter, and Umami is the five taste sensation recognised in the western culture. Other than that we can also detect: Dryness, Fattiness, Spiciness, Calcium, Coolness, and Numbness.
Aroma: Your nose on the other hand is capable of detecting hundreds of distinct compounds. Aroma therefore plays an important role in what you experience as 'taste' when you are eating.
When smelling chocolate you should warm it up a little with your fingers, bring it close to your nose and sniff and breath several times - for at least 30 seconds - as the aroma may develop as you smell.
Taste without smell: Now we would like you to do a quick excercise:
- Take a piece of fine chocolate
- Pinch your nose before you put the chocolate in your mouth
- Let the chocolate melt on your tongue until it is gone
- Let go of your nose and breath out through your nose
- Do you notice any difference in flavor?
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