Science answers taste questions
FANS of sherry know already that it goes very well with food – just ask the thousands of tapas enthusiasts who would drink nothing else but fino with their patatas bravas and chorizo.
Now they’ve got celebrity chef Heston Blumenthal on their side.
Cerebral kitchen alchemist Heston brought to bear his own “appliance of science” in an attempt to find out why sherry is a particularly good accompaniment to certain flavours. With the help of scientist Professor Don Mottram, of Reading University, he has located compounds that are particularly associated with dry sherry.
They can accentuate certain ‘umami’ flavours – the fifth tasting sense beyond sweet, sour, bitter and salty – found in meat, fish, cheese and shiitake mushrooms. Heston explains that by examining sherry on a scientific level to reveal its unique taste components, it is possible to come up with ideal pairings.
So it will be no surprise that he has come up with some unique ideas: caramelised pork and eggs – in the shape of tiny ‘Scotch eggs’ – with pale cream sherry, for instance. He’s put amontillado with peaches, and in a new twist on fondue, he matches gruyere and cloves with fino. For a sweet surprise he suggests cream sherry with Eccles cakes, Stilton and sherry butter.
The theory is that flavour is a combination of aroma and taste, joined up by the brain to create the final impression. If you eat a piece of chocolate and hold your nostrils, the sweetness of the chocolate comes through, but without the chocolate flavour. Open your nostrils and the flavour appears because it is all put together and created in the head.
So much for the science, but the only way to test it is to try it out.
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