How Chocolate Gets Its Flavors On | #PodSaveChocolate Ep76
Episode 76 of #PodSaveChocolate is the final episode in my series leading up to the BSF Flavour symposium at the end of the month. In this episode, I tie together the threads of recent episodes around this topic together and explain How Chocolate Gets Its Taste.
When and Where to Watch
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Clay Gordon
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Episode 76 Overview
In this episode, I will continue my exploration of topics that will go into my presentation at the 2024 Annual Symposium of the British Society of Flavourists on Friday, October 25th – and this will, most likely, be the final episode in this series.
The Differences Between Taste and Flavor
Taste and Flavor are often used interchangeably (I am guilty of this), but they are distinct concepts in food science:
Taste refers to the sensations detected by the taste buds (sweet, sour, salty, bitter, umami) on our tongue and in our mouth.
Flavor is a much more complex and multisensory experience that encompasses Taste, Aroma, Texture/Mouthfeel (including astringency), Temperature, Visual and auditory cues, and Experience/Memory.
The disparate threads I want to pull together from many prior episodes provide a framework for how chocolate gets its taste.
Professional flavorists, I have learned, may have a good grasp of chocolate flavor from an organic analytical chemistry perspective and understand what happens in the nose and mouth and how to formulate a product to reach a Bliss Point.
But, at the same time, they have a less well-developed understanding of what goes into making chocolate as a food and how the final flavor of chocolate can be influenced starting on the farm.
I will spend a lot of time at the 10,000-meter level in this episode (I have to get everything I want to present at the symposium in under 15 minutes!), but in the end, if you follow along (and review previous episodes), you will have a solid understanding of how chocolate gets its taste, starting from the basic premise:
All taste is chemical.
Approach #1 : Analytical
Deconstructing aroma, taste, and flavor through chemical understanding.
Approach #2: Process
Constructing aroma, taste, and flavor from farming and manufacturing processes.
Links & Resources
Mentioned during the episode
One genetics, five different fermentation/drying protocols, five different flavor potentials.
Clay Gordon
In the comments/discussion at the bottom, answers to listener questions.
Questions?
If you have questions or want to comment, you can do so live during the episode or, if you are a ChocolateLife member, you can add them in the Comments below at any time.
Episode Hashtags and Related Accounts to Follow
#cocoa #cacao #cacau
#chocolate #chocolat #craftchocolate
#PodSaveChocolate #PodSaveChoc
#LaVidaCocoa #TheChocolateLife
Future Episodes
Salon du Chocolat NYC – General Public Preview episode.
Interview with Rowan Jacobsen about his new book,
Wild Chocolate: Across the Americas in Search of Cacao’s Soul.
#PodSaveChocolate and #TheChocolateLifeLIVE Archives
To read an archived post and find the links to watch archived episodes, click on one of the bookmark cards, below.
Clay Gordon
Clay Gordon
Audio-only podcasts
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