Lecture 8: Flavors and Beverages

Question 1

How did early humans rely on taste and smell to determine if something was edible?

Answer 1

• Sweetness = nourishing
• Bitterness = toxic alkaloids
• Foulness = dangerous decay

Question 2

How do humans biologically detect smells?

Answer 2

Chemical compounds stimulate olfactory receptor neurons, which are special nerve cells in the olfactory bulb located in the nasal passages

Question 3

Aroma and volatility

Answer 3

• Aroma chemicals of herbs and spices are volatile (molecules that can evaporate easily)
• Allows them to rise with the breath into the nose
• High temps make volatile molecules more volatile –> cooking releases aromas

Question 4

Herbs vs. Spices

Answer 4

• Herbs = leafy, green plant parts (fresh or dried

- Spices = bits of dried seed, bark, or root

Question 5

How were herbs and spices used before modern times

Answer 5

• Before refrigeration, food often was a bit spoiled when eaten –> herbs and spices used to cover up bad tastes
• Many plants produce essential oils to used to make incense/perfumes

Question 6

In which kind of food are aromas used most?

Answer 6

Beverages

Question 7

Maillard reaction

Answer 7

Cooking of meat, bread crust, coffee, roasted nuts to get that browning effect

Question 8

Name the primary flavor familes of herbs and spices

Answer 8

• Terpenes
• Phenolics
• Pungent chemicals

Question 9

Terpenes

Answer 9

• Defense compounds in plants –> pine-like, leafy, citrusy, floral
• Very volatile –> each nose first, readily boiled off during cooking
• Built from 5 carbon molecular blocks called isoprenoid units

Question 10

Phenolics

Answer 10

• Natural compounds found in plants

- Constructed from a cyclohexane and at least one fragment of a water molecule (-OH)

Question 11

Pungency

Answer 11

• Hotness, chemical irritation

- Not a taste or smell

Question 12

What are the 2 major groups of chemicals that cause pungency?

Answer 12

Thiocyanates:
-small molecules that easily escape from foods
-effect the nose
-mustard, horseradish, wasabi
Alkylamides:
-large molecules that stay in the food
-effect the mouth
-chilies, black pepper, ginger

Question 13

How did tea come to be?

Answer 13

• Accidentally
• Chinese Emperor Shen Nung had an upset stomach from poisonous grasses
• Wind blew tea leaves his way and he boiled them in water, drank them, and felt better

Question 14

How is tea made?

Answer 14

By infusing leave of the tea plant Camellia sinensis in hot water

Question 15

Name the 3 main types of tea.

Answer 15

• Green tea (unfermented)
• Oolong tea (semi-fermented)
• Black tea (fermented)

Question 16

Green tea

Answer 16

• Unfermented
• Green leaf, clear water
• Longest history of all teas and ranks 1st in output and variety today
• Liked for its freshness and natural fragrance
• Preparation: harvest, wither, pan fire, roll, press, and dry

Question 17

Oolong tea

Answer 17

• Semi-fermented
• Leaves are withered until they become significantly wilted
• Lightly agitated to bruise leaves and let enzymes convert some of the simple flavonols into red-brown tannins
• Pan fired, rolled, and dried

Question 18

Black tea

Answer 18

• Fermented
• Stronger fragrance
• Leaves significantly withered
• Rolled to bruise leaves and let enzymes convert simple flavonols into red-brown tannins
• Fermented 1-4 hours
• Dried

Question 19

Tea and caffeine content

Answer 19

Tea leaves contain more caffeine than coffee, but tea generally contains less per cup

Question 20

Where and from what did coffee originate?

Answer 20

• Trees native to east Africa
• First roasted on Arabian peninsula in Yemen (have been growing coffee there for 14 centuries)
• Comes from the Arabic word “qahwah” for Mocha

Question 21

Coffee plants

Answer 21

• Coffee grows on large bushes or small trees that take 3-5 years to produce fruit –> will produce fruit for up to 15 years
• Coffee bean = seed of the fruit
• Fruit develops over 6-9 months

Question 22

What are the 2 types of coffee grown commercially?

Answer 22

• Coffee arabica (Yemen)

- Coffee robusta (Africa)

Question 23

Largest exporters of coffee today

Answer 23

Brazil, Vietnam and Columbia

Question 24

Mineral water and soft drinks

Answer 24

• Soft drinks can be traced back to mineral water found in natural springs (healthy, curative powers)
• Scientists found out CO2 made it bubble
• Wanted to drink this healing water

Question 25

Joseph Priestley

Answer 25

• English clergyman and chemist
• Invented the first drinkable manmade glass of carbonated water
• First chemist to prove that oxygen was essential to combustion
• Co-credited with the discovery of oxygen

Question 26

American soda fountain

Answer 26

• People would go to the local drug store for a fountain drink supposed to cure or aid some physical malady
• Drugs like cocaine and caffein were among the most famous additives
• Bromides and plant extracts also commonly dispensed

Question 27

Coca Cola

Answer 27

• Invented by Dr. John Pemberton in Atlanta, GA in 1886
• Combined cocaine and caffeine to cure headaches
• Problem = resulting rebound headache meant that patients were always back for more
• 1877: formula sold to Asa Candler for $2300
• 1890: most popular drink in America

Question 28

Harrison Act (1914)

Answer 28

Banned use of cocaine and opiates in over-the-counter products