Food Flavourings

Reading an article about why Macdonald's fries taste so good, it's amazing what food manufacturers do these days. That "natural flavour" at the bottom of the contents list really means a lot. I liked the metaphor that the flavourists are like the modern-day alchemist, mix a few ingredients, and poof! a new flavour appears.

As a beginner foodie, I am already impressed by the quality of some of the meals that I have tasted in the last few months. Places I used to deem pointlessly expensive have now moved into the "still expensive, but there's something worthwhile there."

I wonder if in the future we will just eat a slab of material (probably plasticy) and you can create any taste, any texture with the right chemicals. It would just be like Star Trek, where they can reform atoms into any meal that is required. What would become of the Tetsuya's, the Bennelong's, the Claudes's (I feel cool just knowing these names!) of Sydney? Will they disappear? Can a food flavourist ever get a Three-hat rating from Sydney Morning Herald?

Or will people place an even greater premium to the "wizards" who can create flavour not from chemicals, but from a mixture of natural foodstuffs? Theirs may the skill that will live on.

Damn! five cheap calls already:

I don't make no damn fries! If you said chicken nuggets I'd understand...
h0rnbag - 09 December '05 - 06:55

if you want a rant about maccas, read morgan spurlock's "don't eat this book". i'm sure you've seen supersize me. this is just more information that came out from making the movie. interestingly enough, maccas in europe have changed the oil they use to make fries. maccas in the US still refuse to do it.
reenie (email) - 11 December '05 - 05:23

I saw these in Time Magazine in the 2005 Best Inventions section. Flavor Spray is a collection of delectable flavor sprays that can be mixed with a variety of foods including poultry, seafood, beef, salads, vegetables, dairy and bread products.

The flavor sprays are designed to simulate the taste of dieters' favorite foods while eliminating the guilt of eating them -- each contains no fat, calories, carbohydrates or cholesterol. Each spray contains a liquid extract made up of water, salts, emulsifiers, and natural and artificial flavors, with Splenda used as a sweetener in the “dessert” sprays.

Hmmm. Now they've just gone too far.
http://www.flavorspraydiet.com/
milli - 12 December '05 - 06:25

geez, wheres the enjoyment in that.......
i like my food , like kev, only recently have i learnt not to be so damn picky and try different foods - in particular, sample fine cuisine. Im so glad i have. yumbo
addy - 12 December '05 - 16:30

So all I'm eating is water and salts. Are emulsifiers things that make other things gooey? Yum! :P
JookBoy (link) - 18 December '05 - 01:33