Saturday, June 27, 2009

3. Taste

I got slightly side-tracked with the last post, but back to the senses working overtime in summer.
OK, so technically we only have five tastes that we can recognise on the tongue, but if you'll allow me to include the use of my nose, we can get a riot of flavour in the mouth.

Over 360 compounds have been identified in the aroma of strawberries, with the key ones being methyl and ethyl esters. This link lists some of the chemicals which give strawberries their characteristic flavour. If you found them on the back of a label you'd probably want rant about corporate giants wanting to feed us lots of E-numbers. But fresh off the plant on a summer's afternoon, those methyl butyrates and ethyl hexanoates taste good. Especially with a bit of water, fat, protein, lactose, and a few vitamins and minerals. Or cream as it's sometimes known.

5 comments:

Frances said...

Oh those chemical tastes are coming right through the laptop screen, Happy! Thanks for allowing at least the sense of sight to be aroused with your strawberries. In our garden, the gardener tasted the fruits of her labor with one berry, rabbits got every single other one just as it ripened to perfection. And inelegant Sigh.
Frances

Joanne said...

Gosh they do photograph well. Fancy having them in the bowl long enough to take a photo!

Our strawberries and Raspberries are coming to an end bu we have had a good crop from them for 3 weeks.

Lavender and Vanilla Friends of the Gardens said...

Beautiful Strawberries from the garden. The best. Enjoyed very nuch your posts, the senses. All of them bring back many memories.

Anonymous said...

Those berries look so scrumptious, I can almost taste them on the screen. ;)

Unknown said...

Brilliant pictures! Want to eat the screen.