Auslese

Plural auslesen. Literally, “select harvest.” A level of full ripeness according to the traditional German system. In the Modern VDP system in Germany, denotes a wine with significant sweetness.

There are only four basic tastes humans can detect and experience in our food and wine: sweet, sour, salty, and bitter.

Answer: False.

In addition to these four tastes, there’s at least one more that’s known—umami (oo-MA-mee), a word that translates to "deliciousness" in Japanese. Discovered in 1908 by Japanese scientist Kikunae Ikeda, umami is based on the presence of glutamates (aka glutamic acid), the most abundant type of amino acid in certain foods—and, thus, indicators of protein. In 2000, University of Miami researchers found receptors in our taste buds designed to receive the umami compounds. Umami is present in foods such as blue cheese, meat juices, mushrooms, and fermented soy products like soy sauce. Beyond sweet, sour, salty, bitter, and umami, there may be even more tastes scientists haven’t yet discovered.

A Passion for Paprika

Paprika, along with several other Hungarian culinary essentials—tomatoes, sour cherries, coffee, and phyllo (which the Hungarians immortalized by reinventing as strudel)—were all introduced by the Turks during their numerous occupations. Be that as it may,… Continue reading

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