Re: [CH] sensory remapping
The Old Bear (oldbear@arctos.com)
Sat, 16 May 1998 13:00:06 -0400
In Chile-Heads Digest, v.4 #419, J. B. Cattley wrote:
>Date: Sat, 16 May 1998 03:02:00 +1000
>From: "J. B. Cattley" <jbc@mpx.com.au>
>Subject: [CH] sensory remapping
>
>You're pretty much all cooks out there, and flavours are obviously
>preeminent, so I'll ask a weird question:
>
>Anyone else out there cook by shape? Hard to explain, but I sort of
>remap flavours to a spatial context to do additive/subtractive
>manipulations on them. Different flavours fit in different
>places/directions, and if you know what I mean, you know what I mean.
>
>In other words, when the curry sticks out equally in all directions,
>it's done. This is, I have just realised, why I don't much care for
>Thai: the lemongrass just doesn't interlock with the other flavours,
>but sort of rides over the top.
>
>I am not synaesthetic, as it doesn't boil down to an actual concrete
>sensation, it just seems to be a convenient sensory algebra, IYSWIM.
On a similar topic, I recently wrote to the Chile-Heads list:
"A few months ago I read an article about an 'electronic nose'
which had been developed -- like what a microphone is to hearing
and a camera is to sight. Although this might be a step toward
'smellovision' (and, yes, I know, much of what's on TV already
stinks), its real application is in the food and cosmetic flavor
and fragrance industry.
"The article explained that the 'electronic nose' had
chromotographic sensors for over a thousand common organic and
inorganic compounds to which the human nose was sensitive. The
signals generated by each of these sensors were fed to a
computer which mapped the information to a graphic display
consisting of a mosaic of pixels which would change color and
brightness depending upon which compounds were being detected.
"The mosaic was somewhat analogous to the taste and olfactory
system, with, for example, certain compounds stimulating the
'back of the tongue' or the upper nose or lingering on the
palate.
"This device produced a unique and identifiable visual signature
for virtually all recognizable smells.
"Interestingly, the while the system would let a skilled operator
recognize patterns which were unpleasant versus pleasant, it did
not easily allow one to 'design' fragrances -- i.e., create a
visual 'painting' and then translate it into a predicatable
designer scent.
"The practical application of this device is in production lines
for products like liquid soaps and household products where it can
quickly recognize a departure from the correct scent formulation
and alert the operator to correct the problem."
Sounds to me like you're doing pretty much the same kind of thing,
by mapping flavors and aromas into a 3-dimensional pattern which
you can mentally manipulate.
This is a very interesting junction between cognitive psychology,
psycho-chemistry, and mathematical analysis of seemingly chaotic
data.
In the case of particularly spicy foods, it has the additional
factor of extracting a subtle signal in the presence of a great
noise -- the basic capsaicin being the great noise. I recall that
someone recently wrote a seminal article of how fish hear sounds
which classic information theory would predict as impossibly lost
in the background noise of the ocean. Do we have the makings of
a thesis here -- or maybe just a good tom yaam goong?
Cheers,
The Old Bear
SPICY SHRIMP SOUP WITH LEMON GRASS
1/2 pound shrimp
4 cups water
1 stalk fresh lemon grass, sliced
1 can straw mushrooms (8 oz.), drained
2 kaffir lime leaves
1 to 4 Tbsp fish sauce
1/4 cup fresh lime juice
2 Tbsp slice green onions
1 Tbsp chopped Chinese parsley
1 to 4 red chili peppers, seeded and chopped
(or 1/2 tsp red chili paste)
Garnish: Chinese parsley sprigs
Devein shrimp; leave shells on for color, if desired. Bring water
to a boil. Add lemon grass, straw mushrooms and kaffir lime leaves;
immediately reduce heat to medium-low. Add shrimp and cook for
3 minutes; stir in fish sauce and lime juince. Sprinkle with green
onions. Chinese parsley and red chili peppers, if desired. Serve
hot. Garnish with Chinese parsley sprigs. Makes 4 servings.
Note: Fresh mushroom can be substituted for hte canned mushrooms, but
add at end of cooking time.
(This is the most popular soup served at Keo's, the well-known gourmet
Thai restaurant in Honolulu.)
source: Keo's Thai Cuisine
by Keo Sananikone
(1985).
SPICED SHRIMP SOUP
1 pound shrimp, medium size - about 26/pound
(preferably with heads)
4 stalks fresh lemongrass, with the outer leaves
discarded and root ends trimmed
6 cups water
1/4 cup coriander roots and/or stems, well-washed
and finely chopped
1/2 tsp salt (or to taste)
1/2 tsp black pepper, freshly ground
1-inch cube fresh gingerroot, peeled and cut into
fine julienne strips
1/4 cup Asian fish sauce (preferably Naam Pla)
1/4 cup fresh lime juice
1 small fresh red or green Thai chili or serrano chili,
or to taste, seeded and sliced very thin
Garnish: fresh coriander leaves, thinly sliced kaffir lime
leaves, and small fresh red Thai chilies for
garnish if desired
Rinse shrimp well and shell, reserving shell and heads.
Cut 3 lemongrass stalks into 1-inch sections and crush lightly with
flat side of a heavy knife. In a saucepan combine crushed lemongrass
with reserved shrimp shells and heads, water, coriander roots, salt,
and pepper and simmer, uncovered, 20 minutes. Strain broth through
a fine sieve into another saucepan.
Thinly slice lower 6 inches of remaining lemongrass stalk, discarding
remainder of stalk, and combine with broth and gingerroot. Simmer
broth 5 minutes. Add shrimp and simmer 1 minute, or until shrimp are
just firm to touch. Stir in fish sauce, lime juice, and sliced chili.
Serve soup warm or at room temperature, garnished with coriander
leaves, lime leaves, and chilies. Makes about 6 cups.
Note: This soup as a version of the classic "Tom Yaam Goong." In its
homeland this soup would have far more hot chilies. The above version
has been toned down by Gourmet Magazine to appeal to newcomers to Thai
cuisine, but veterans can add more chilies to make this soup as
incendiary as they wish.
source: Gourmet Magazine
June 1994