It is known that in nature there are many different tastes. Ayurvedic texts* divide all tastes into 6 types:
1. Sweet
2. Sour
3. Salty
4. Sharp
5. Gorky
6. Astringent
Any product contains one or another taste. Many foods contain more than one taste (for example, orange is sweet and sour, and most vegetables are bitter and astringent), however, one of the tastes will always predominate.
Adding a few pieces of salt to a recipe isn't just about adding saltiness, it's a flavor enhancer, so when you "salt to taste" it also takes care of low flavors and flavors. It can also balance unwanted bitterness in a dish.
In some cases, the solution can be as simple as adding more water to dilute the salinity. Alternatively, the sweetness helps counteract the saltiness, so a few sugar wipes, a little honey, or balsamic vinegar can go through. long haul. If the dish is too bitter or too bland, and there are subtle flavors you'd like to bring out, the age old "salt to taste" advice is good. correct rule to be followed. You don't have to use just salt to get that salty taste: instead, use soy sauce, cured meat, olives or cheese. But what if you add too much salt? . Although we all have different tolerances, people tend to be sensitive to bitterness.
Ayurveda states that all 6 tastes must be present at every meal, this will allow the body to get all the necessary substances and avoid imbalances.
The sequence of enumeration indicated in the texts is not accidental.
According to Ayurvedic prescriptions, tastes are consumed in exactly the indicated order, sequentially, starting with sweet and ending with astringent.
Interestingly, evolutionarily, we can hardly be suspicious of bitter foods, since the taste may indicate that the plant is inedible. It turns out that many bitter foods are also good for us. Even more interesting: bitterness in food and drink is gaining popularity, so perhaps bitter is actually better.
Recipes that express bitterness are kale salad with brussels sprouts and lemon vinaigrette and negroni. Great ingredients for adding a bitter taste are horseradish, escarole, arugula, radicchio, and dark chocolate.
- If the dish is too bitter, add salt.
- The bitterness helps to balance out any cloying sweetness.
Any meal must start with a sweet taste, because it is the most "heavy" of all, and is digested longer than others. Sweet-tasting foods are by nature one of the most nutritious. In addition, the sweet taste quickly satisfies the feeling of hunger.
It is important to understand that sweet taste does not mean artificial sweets that most people are used to, but natural products that naturally taste sweet.
Recipes with a noticeable sweet taste are salted pumpkin caramels, carrots with honey, and mini black and white cookies. If the dish is too sweet, then acidic ingredients - like lemon juice and vinegar - will do you good, as they cut through and brighten up the sweetness. Other ingredients used as an alternative to sugar are honey, fruit, and maple syrup. Use sweet ingredients to take the edge off dishes that are too bitter. . This is another flavor notorious for being difficult to swallow, but even the smallest addition of a sour ingredient, such as a splash of lime, a splash of vinegar, or a swirl of cream color, can brighten up a dish.
So, Ayurveda refers the following products to the sweet taste:
- Most grains such as: wheat, rice, barley, corn, etc.
- Legumes, lentils of all kinds, peas (dal, mungdal).
- Milk and sweet dairy products such as ghee, cream, butter.
- Sweet fruits such as dates, figs, grapes, peaches, coconut, mango, especially dried ones.
- Cooked vegetables such as potatoes, sweet potatoes, carrots, beets, cauliflower, beans.
- Sugar in any form: molasses, cane sugar juice, palm sugar, etc. Ayurveda prefers unrefined cane sugar - such sugar is considered healthy.
Excessive consumption of the sweet taste results in an imbalance of kapha.
People often confuse acidity with bitterness, but the main difference is that sour flavors depend on acidity to give it that tiring taste. Keep this in mind when you're cooking, as it's easy to make mistakes with each other. Think about how squeezing a lime adds key flavor to what might be an otherwise soft pad Thai or how it softens the spicy flavors of tacos. If you find yourself dragging on that feeling for too long, adding a sweet ingredient or a pinch of salt will help. Ingredients that add acid are cultured dairy products such as buttermilk and sour cream, lemon and lime, and vinegar. Not sure when to use acidic ingredients? . Umami - new baby on the block in the sphere of taste.
After the sweet, you should move on to sour-tasting foods. Sour taste starts to stimulate digestion after sweet foods. It causes salivation, increases the acidity in the mouth, helps to digest the sweet taste that came in at the beginning. Sour tastes include:
- Sour fruits and berries such as: lemon, lime, sour oranges, sour pineapples, sour cherries, kiwi, tamarind ("Indian dates"), cranberries, etc., as well as tomatoes.
- Fermented milk products such as: yogurt, paneer (homemade cheese), whey, sour cream, etc.
- Fermented products (other than cultured dairy products) such as wine, vinegar, sauerkraut, all kinds of pickled vegetables and pickles, etc.
Excessive consumption of sour taste results in an imbalance of pitta or kapha.
Umami is a salty, earthy, meaty taste that occurs naturally and can be developed in others by slow cooking, aging, drying, and curing. Often confused with saltiness, umami is a flavor category in its own right, contributing depth and energy to food that salt cannot provide on its own.
Heinz is not the market leader in tomato ketchup for nothing. In his definitive New York City essay on why no other brand can compete for the ketchup crown, Malcolm Gladwell concludes that Heinz's secret lies in her perfect balance of the five basic flavors: sweet, salty, bitter, and sour. but you can't stand 650 million bottles every year if it doesn't taste good. There is no doubt that the perfect balance of flavors is necessary to achieve the ultimate in deliciousness.
The sour taste is followed by a salty taste, which also kindles the fire of digestion. This taste is also meant to kindle the digestive fire and enhance the digestion process. Ayurveda refers to the salty taste of any type of salt, such as:
- Rock salt
- Sea salt
- earth salt
- Any food with added salt
Salty taste in excess can unbalance kapha and especially pitta. Of all the salt, it is preferable to choose rock salt, as it suits people of all three doshas.
It can be frustrating when you follow a new writing recipe and the kitchen fills with mouth-watering flavors, but the food is missing something when you taste it. It's like you're all going to a party, but somehow the overall effect isn't quite as impressive as you might think. Maybe bleeding is obvious when something is too salty or acidic or whatever, but only experience can teach you how to fix it. This, argues food writer and former food scientist Jules Clancy on his blog, is much more than adding a few grinds of salt and pepper.
After the salty taste, you should take the spicy one. It is designed to support the digestive process. Strongly irritates the receptors, cleanses the mouth, removes excess kapha dosha from the body. The pungent taste is found mainly in spices, herbs and some raw vegetables:
- Spices such as: black pepper, mustard seeds, ginger, cumin, cloves, cardamom, garlic, etc. As well as more "soft" spices, such as turmeric, anise, cinnamon.
- Raw vegetables such as radishes, onions, cauliflower, celery, as well as eggplant (including fried), etc.
The abuse of spicy taste inevitably leads to Pitta or Vata imbalances. It is especially not recommended to eat hot chili peppers, as it leads to severe disorders of the digestive system.
Clancy says she took on the dazzling consequences for the first time to get that right in her former life as a wine producer. Increasing the acidity in wine, she says, is more than just making it astringent: "At optimal acid levels, the wine will be brighter and more lively on the flavor pathways," she writes, and mouth feel can be taken from greasy and flabby to thirsty-dull. crispy.
In cooking, you can match your sources of these basic flavors to the style of dish you're preparing: for example, if you want some acidity, Clancy says, it should come from fine sherry vinegar, a squeeze of fine lime, or super "concentrated" balsamic vinegar.
The spicy taste is followed by the bitter taste. This taste eliminates toxicity from the body and also stimulates digestion. Like other flavors, it should be consumed in small quantities. The bitter taste is found mainly in most vegetables, fruits and spices:
- Vegetables such as: chicory, Indian cucumber (carella), leafy vegetables such as spinach, green cabbage, Brussels sprouts, etc. Also aloe.
- Fruits such as: olives, grapefruit, cocoa.
- Spices such as: turmeric, shamballa.
- Some medicinal plants: wormwood, mahasudrashana, bibhitaki (component of triphala).
Excessive indulgence in bitter taste leads to a violation of vata dosha.
Thai Chefs: Masters of Balance
The balance of spiciness, saltiness, acidity and sweetness should be considered not only in each course, but also between six or more dishes that are shared in one visit. "Sometimes all four tastes are used," he says, "sometimes one or two, but it's always an exercise in trying to find a balance." sweet salad will be accompanied by sour fried fried. It's actually anarchy," Thompson says. "He's very free.
Limes, Thompson's notes, have significantly different characteristics in the UK, Australia and Thailand, plus they change over the years. The heat varies wildly in different chili wines, and even individual peppers from the same bush can vary, so you can't take anything for granted. Just keep tasting and adding slowly.
The meal should end with an astringent taste. This taste is healing, drying, binding, and naturally completes the digestion process in the body. The astringent taste is found mainly in legumes, raw vegetables, fruits and spices:
- Turmeric, honey, walnuts, hazelnuts.
- Legumes, lentils, peas (dal, mungdal).
- Vegetables such as Brussels sprouts, lettuce and other leafy vegetables most raw vegetables. Rhubarb.
- Fruits such as pomegranate, persimmon, feihua, most unripe fruits.
The astringent taste should not be abused either, because in excess it unbalances the vata dosha.
Remember that salt does more than make food taste salty. It enhances sweetness and suppresses bitterness. If you add too much salt, Thompson says, you can get away with it by raising acid, sugar, or chili. He adds that diluting the cup with a little water can help, "just bring it up from the intensity."
You can also mask an unbalanced dish by adjusting the accompaniments. Don't merge with rice, or use a sour main course with sweet foods on the side. The more you keep sampling food, Clancy warns, the more familiar you will become with it. So punctuate your tasting with clean sips of water.
* Charak Sutrasthan 27 (whole chapter)
Charak Vimanasthan 8.139-144
Ashtang Hridayam Sutrasthan 10.22-32
Article prepared by Ekaterina Kuzminova
When consumed in excess, the salty taste causes thirst, lethargy, a burning sensation, and muscle wasting. It makes the blood thick and viscous, causing an increase in blood pressure. The salty taste worsens the condition of the skin, causes wrinkles, promotes tooth loss, graying and hair loss. The salty taste increases the acidity of the stomach, promotes the development of gout and other diseases, mainly related to Pitta.
When using very hot chili, you will also need to increase the amount of salt and sour. "It's what the Thais call a rounded taste," says Thompson. Is it art or science? Do you think about balancing flavors when you cook? Do you have any other condiments and pitfalls to add to the above?
Taste encourages us to take in nutrients and avoid poisons. To distinguish the taste of different substances, the tongue is covered with bumps or papillae that contain taste buds. Tasty buds are made up of 50-100 cells that have surface taste receptors that sense and bind molecules in food, giving us the sensation of taste. Tasty cells connected to nerve cells, which send signals to the brain when taste receptors are activated. Some tastes are also affected by smells, textures, and temperatures, while others are entirely dependent on the taste buds of the tongue.
spicy taste
Pungent taste increases Pitta and Vata and reduces Kapha. Effect on the body: warming.
The pungent taste is matched by a spicy pungent smell. They have a spicy taste:
- Spices (black pepper, cayenne, chili; mustard seeds, ginger, asafoetida, cloves, cumin, cardamom, garlic, turmeric, cinnamon, anise, onion, rosemary, oregano, etc.).
- Raw vegetables (radish, radish, horseradish, onion, celery, eggplant).
The pungent taste is light, hot and dry. Pungent taste promotes digestion, stimulates appetite, cleanses the oral cavity, eliminates blood clots and stagnation, cleanses the blood, kills microbes and viruses, and warms the body from the inside. Pungent taste enhances the taste of food. It has an antiseptic, bactericidal effect, treats skin diseases, stops itching, promotes perspiration and eliminates toxic accumulations, destroys worms.
The bitter taste may have evolved to protect us from poisons. Many alkaloids that are normally toxic cause a bitter taste. Individuals possess 40 to 80 types of bitter taste receptors that detect various substances, including sulfonamides such as saccharin, urea, and alkaloids, including quinine and caffeine. Children have more taste receptors than adults; The number of taste buds decreases with age. Children often dislike vegetables, which can be caused by plants producing bitter compounds to protect themselves from being eaten.
When consumed in excess, the pungent taste causes exhaustion, fatigue, apathy, exhaustion, dizziness, fainting, and loss of consciousness. Causes thirst and a burning sensation. May cause gastritis and stomach ulcers.
bitter taste
Bitter taste increases Vata, reduces Pitta and Kapha. Effect on the body: cooling.
Sensitivity to bitter compounds also depends on genes encoding bitter taste receptors. Variations in these genes prevent some people from detecting bitterness in certain compounds. Sour taste is produced by sour food. Acids in food release hydrogen ions or protons. The concentration of hydrogen ions determines the degree of acidity. The decomposition of food by bacteria produces acidic or hydrogen ions, and while some fermented foods, such as yogurt, have a pleasant acidity, an extremely acidic one can be a warning of bacterial contamination in food.
A bitter taste corresponds to a bitter smell. Bitter tastes include:
The bitter taste cleanses the body of toxins and toxins, eliminates salts, no matter how deeply they penetrate the body, destroys worms. Relieves burning sensation, itching, inflammatory skin conditions and thirst. It has a bactericidal, antipyretic effect. In moderation, the bitter taste stimulates digestion. Having a drying effect on the body, it reduces the amount of fat and promotes weight loss.
Hydrogen ions bind to acid-sensitive channels in taste cell membranes. When channels are activated, they trigger nerves. It was previously thought that sour taste was primarily produced from hydrogen ions blocking potassium channels, but a recent study identifies an acid-sensitive cation channel as the primary transducer of sour taste.
Our bodies often crave salinity because sodium ions are essential for many bodily functions. Salinity in food is mainly produced from sodium chloride or table salt. A pleasant salty taste is produced when sodium ions enter the sodium channel on the surface of taste cells and mediate nerve impulses through calcium influx. A hormone called aldosterone increases the number of sodium channels on the taste cell when sodium is deficient. Sodium channels on taste cells are sensitive to the chemical amiloride and differ from sodium channels on nerves and muscles.
The bitter taste is not very pleasant, but it restores the sense of taste, enhancing the sensation of other tastes. Bitter taste should be consumed in small quantities. If a person is naturally thin, i.e. Vata constitution, he does not need a bitter taste. Medicinal herbs Vata constitution should be consumed with honey.
With excessive use, the bitter taste gives rise to depression, longing, resentment, melancholy. If a person is drawn to bitter food, it means that he lives in anguish. Alcohol has a bitter taste. Drinking alcoholic beverages, a person wants to wash down his bitterness. Excessive passion for bitter taste unbalances Vata dosha. Too much bitterness leads to dehydration, causes dryness, exhaustion, fatigue, hallucinations, dizziness, dry mouth, cracking joints.
The body's preference for sweet tastes may be due to the ability of sweet foods to provide a quick source of energy. sweet taste in food comes mainly from glucose and fructose, which are found in sucrose or sugar. However, sweet taste can also be caused by non-carbohydrates such as aspartame, saccharin and some proteins.
Tasty buds can also detect certain amino acids in proteins. This taste is called tasty or umami. The receptor interaction activates ion channels and generates a signaling cascade similar to those produced by bitter and sweet compounds. The main taste categories and signaling mechanisms for bitter, sour, salty, sweet, and umami are well known and researched, but our understanding of tastes for metallic and fatty substances is far from complete.
Astringent taste
Astringent taste increases Vata, reduces Pitta and Kapha. Effect on the body: cooling.
The meal should end with an astringent taste. This taste is healing, drying, binding, and naturally completes the digestion process in the body. The astringent taste is found mainly in legumes, raw vegetables, fruits and spices:
- Fruits (pomegranate, pomegranate peel, persimmon, quince, cranberry, feijoa, unripe banana and other unripe fruits).
- Vegetables (okra or okra).
- Legumes (chickpeas, lentils, peas, beans, dal).
- Nuts (hazelnuts, green walnuts).
- Spices (turmeric, nutmeg, saffron, parsley, basil).
- Plants containing tannins (oak bark, raspberry leaves, witch hazel, geranium, plantain).
- Cottage cheese.
- Tea coffee.
The astringent taste is cool, dry and light. The astringent taste has a calming effect, stops diarrhea, treats inflammation in the joints, reduces sweating and slows or stops bleeding. It has anti-inflammatory and wound healing and analgesic effect, it is used in the treatment of ulcers, hemorrhoids.
Astringent taste should not be abused, because in excess it unbalances Vata dosha.
When consumed in excess, the astringent taste causes constipation, bloating, weakness, dry mouth, and speech difficulties. An excess of astringent taste causes congestion of blood vessels, pain in the heart, premature aging. Excess astringency can cause malnutrition, convulsions, facial paralysis, stroke, and other neuromuscular disorders of Vata dosha.
Tea and coffee spoil the stomach and extinguish the fire of digestion. The habit of drinking tea or coffee immediately after eating stops the digestive process.
mixed tastes
Foods and plants rarely have the same taste, but usually one of the tastes predominates.
Sweet and sour tastes are often combined in various fruits, such as oranges, apples, pineapple, hawthorn. They are very good for Vata. The sweet taste is often combined with astringents, as, for example, in persimmon, pomegranate, elm, water lily, comfrey and lotus. Herbs with a sweet astringent taste are especially good for Pitta, but can be difficult to digest. Sometimes sweet and bitter tastes are combined - for example, in licorice. These herbs are also especially good for Pitta. Sweet and spicy flavors can be combined, as in ginger, cinnamon, fennel. Such herbs are especially good for Vata.
Sometimes hot and bitter tastes are combined, as, for example, in wormwood, motherwort and yarrow. Such herbs have a strong effect on Kapha.
In some cases, acute and astringent flavors- for example, in cinnamon and medicinal sage. They also affect Kapha. Bitter and astringent tastes are often combined, as in many diuretic herbs. Such herbs include plantain, bearberry, "gold seal". They work mainly on Pitta.
Some foods and herbs contain three or more flavors. To determine the effect of such products and herbs, their thermal effect and the effect after digestion are important. Herbs with multiple flavors often have strong effects or a wide range of effects.
