TYPES OF FLAVORS

<aside> 💡 Cooking is essentially a game of learning how to balance the following flavors: Saltiness, Sweetness, Acidity, and Bitterness. When you're able to taste a bite of a dish, know which flavor is missing, figure out what you have to fill that void – you've essentially made it! Below you'll find more info on each of these flavors, and how to use them. Most of the "more on..." pages are still being created

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I don't know if there is any truth to this... But here it is nonetheless! Just to show that we taste things in different parts of our mouths!

SALTY

More on using salty flavors

The Important Points:

1. Use salt. Always.
2. It enhances the natural flavors of what you're making
3. Use it at the beginning of cooking – though not too much

Get saltiness from:

• Salt, soy sauce, capers, olives, anchovies, miso paste, any pre-packaged sauces

SWEET

More on using sweet flavors

The Important Points:

1. A little bit goes a long way
2. Use in savory dishes & sweet dishes!
3. Balance with Acid and Bitter
4. You can make this flavor through slow cooking – bringing out the natural sugars in foods

Get sweetness from:

• Sugar, honey, molasses, maple syrup, grated fruit (or whole fruit), sweet veggies (like carrots, tomatoes, caramelized onions)

ACID

More on using acidic flavors

The Important Points

1. Balance this flavor with sweet things
2. This flavor adds a brightness to your dishes if they feel too heavy
3. A fantastic way to create interesting and brilliant flavors in your food

Get acidity from:

• Citrus fruits, vinegar, acidic veggies (tomatoes), tamarind, fermented foods

BITTER

More on using bitter flavors

The Important Points

1. Balance this flavor with sweet things
2. This is a great flavor to use in sweet dishes
3. Try to avoid this in savory dishes

Get bitterness from:

• Cocoa, coffee, the rind of citrus fruits, dark greens

UMAMI

More on using umami flavors

The Important Points:

1. This is depth, meaty flavor
2. You can create this flavor through roasting things, grilling them, etc.

Get umami from:

• Meat (red), soy, mushrooms, roasting veggies (esp. tomatoes), caramelizing things (esp onions), certain spices (star anise), smoke

(Bonus) FAT & SPICES

More on using fat

More on using spices

The Important Points:

1. Fat is the creaminess of food – it creates a wholistic mouthfeel
2. I don't know how to categorize most spices, so read more above to get more info!

Get these from from:

• FAT (This is one of the easiest ones) Oil, meat, avocado, nuts (particularly nut butter), (real) butter, cheese, cream
• SPICES. Well, obviously you get spices from spices. But one tip is to toast your spices before grinding or using – this brings out more flavor

FLAVORS BY REGION