The Science and Culture of Food

Nilofer Qazi

April  11^th  2012

What is the difference between taste and flavour?  Heston Blumenthal asks in his new book Heston Blumenthal at home; as one the most innovative and scientific Chefs of our time its important to think about.

In Pakistan we consider ourselves a nation who know our cuisine; Peshawar, Karachi, Lahore all claim to be centers of great cuisine- and they are no doubt- But. Do we really understand food? When we look around our cities, and ponder what kind of food is actually appreciated it is another story.

As Heston elaborates , gaining a greater understanding of what goes into our mouths and in our noses and thus our brains makes cooking and eating a whole new adventure. But if our food is doused with large quantities of spices, overwhelmed by grease or rich sauces very little is left for the experience of taste or flavour.

  I was fascinated to read that a lot of our enjoyment comes from our noses and not our mouths.  An experiment should demonstrate this; pinch your nose and eat a biscuit, the taste will be salty or sweet nothing else; repeat it without pinching your nose and you will feel a rush of flavours.

What is the difference between aroma and tastes?  Apparently we have only five tastes:  salty, sweet, sour, bitter and the lesser known umani which is a savoury taste. These ‘tastes’ have receptacles taste buds in our tongues and mouths which help us distinguish. On the other hand there are thousands of aromas, as we chew, aroma molecules travel to our olfactory epithelium a layer behind our nose sending information to our brain. Apparently we can recognize 10,000 different odours which assist us in distinguishing flavours such as lemon, lemon grass, lime etc.

Recently, while in Rome I visited a restaurant called Spirit de Vino an establishment which has a cellar older than the Coliseum!  More incredibly is the menu which includes recipes by Gius Mitaius the chef of Julius Caesar. A simple starter of Roman cheeses, pears, prunes and cinnamon jam was incredible, the combination opened such a diverse set of tastes and aromas the experience was awesome.  In London, I had the privilege of dining at one of Blumenthal’s restaurants called the Dinner; which serves old English recipes from the 17^th and 18^th centuries.  I mention these two particular restaurants because not only  are they examples of  preserving local cultural heritages over  centuries  but are appreciated  by the public in the form of very successful establishments ,also, for the demonstration of the phenomenal construction and the form of cuisines.  For example at the Dinner- the Meat Fruit was a pate in the form of a Mandarin, orange in colour and perfect in shape,  incredible; the beauty of the presentation aside, the idea that pate would be served as a perfect mandarin evokes several aromas and senses along with the obvious taste of chicken liver!

At home we also have a rich tradition of food a variety stretching  from the north to the south of the country, but I have yet to visit a Sindhi, Baluchi, Makrani, Chitali or a Hunza restaurant anywhere. Almost all our cuisine in country and what we export abroad, are some variant of the ‘Mughlai’ tradition or the Bar B Q and Palaos of the Northwest.  Sad. Is that how limited our public cultural markers are?  This uniform, uninteresting, certainly uninventive public food in Pakistan must be indicative of apathy and disinterest at so many levels .  We have deprived so many, of the incredible varieties of cuisine we actually possess, unable to enjoy or celebrate the diversity inside Pakistan

The recent NDTV television show, across the border called, ‘Foodistan’ saw 12 Pakistani and Indian chefs compete. A phenomenal success across the border.  More promising the Pakistani team included a creative woman from Karachi and a very talented Skardu chef whom I hope will explore the cuisine of their regions as well, which few Pakistanis have had the privileged to enjoy in public restaurants!  I recall having an incredible baked fish on one of my visits to Sukhur but I would never be able to have it anywhere else. I’ve enjoyed incredible Sindhi palao and root/lotus bhujia but in Bombay.  The amazing goat cheese with herbs pies  of Chitral, are delicious, but again I have never had one outside of the Hindukush restaurant in Chitral. Why don’t we appreciate variety in our cuisine?  What food does for ones soul little else does!