First, let’s get one thing as clear as simple syrup – this Flavor Focus is about sweetness, not sugar. Think honey, maple syrup, mirin, molasses, but also beans, carrots, lobster, rice, and tomatoes. The whole damn sweet spectrum.
We’re taking an up-close look at the science of sweetness and how it harmonizes and luxuriates among the other major flavor profiles - how it kicks back with umami, high fives salt, bombs around with bitter – and, most importantly, subtly softens and rounds out a flavor’s jagged edges.
Without notes of sweetness, any dish, bite or taste can be incomplete or unbalanced – and you can always count on our body and brains to dutifully sound the alarm. The science behind a human’s relationship with sweetness is… complicated. But also ancient, beautiful, at times all consuming, and inevitably, incredibly satisfying.
Born This Way
Why Humans Are Sweet Seekers
The Sweet Tooth Is More of a Sweet Gene
There’s no manipulative and rogue canine or molar that’s just jonesing for a hit of that sweet, sweet, sweetness and causing you to hork down a whole bunch of ice cream.
But, some of the population has been “inceptionized” to crave sweet things.
Need. Want. Either way sweetness plays a vital role in palate balance.
The Perma-Winning Tag-Team of Sweet and Salty
Sweet foods and flavors get sweeter when you add a little salt into the mix. Salt is a flavor enhancer that ups the sweet factor a notch, but let’s get real science-y about it:
"A study, published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, found that certain sugar receptors that were thought only to exist in the gut were spotted on sweet taste cells on the tongue. Researchers, led by Dr. Robert Margolskee, of the Monell Chemical Sense Center, found the SGLT1 receptor, which transports sugars into cells only when sodium is present. This could explain why sweetness is accentuated by salt - the receptors are activated when salt accompanies sugar."
- Justine Sterling for Delish.com
Salt levels will make or break a dish, but adding it to a sweet dish will send those taste receptors a reelin’.
Sweet Thangs For Your Seasonal Menu
Our Spiceologist chefs share some shuper-shweet dish concepts to inspire your next menu additions.
BREAKFAST
Maple Bourbon Cinnamon Rolls
LUNCH
Blackberry Balsamic Chicken Caprese Sandwhich
APPETIZER
Candied Bacon Sriracha Oysters
DINNER
Sweet Teriyaki Sake Sweet and Sour Pork Ribs
SIDE
Purple Haze Roasted Cauliflower Puree
DESSERT
Maui Wowee Pineapple Upside Down Cake
COCKTAIL
Maui Wowee Pina Colada