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Posts Tagged ‘drinks’

Although the four main flavors – sweet, salty, sour, and bitter are all your tongue is really capable of tasting, the long lasting impression that wine leaves in your mouth is far more complex.  When you drink or taste wine, your taste buds and your sense of smell are involved, adding to the way you interpret wine overall.  The flavors, aromas, and sensations that wine is comprised of provide the interaction that you taste when you sample wine.

Sweetness is something that wines are well known for.  With most types of wine, grapes are responsible for the sweet taste.  Grapes contain a lot of sugar, which breaks the yeast down into alcohol.  The grapes and yeast that were used to produce the wine will leave behind various sugars, which your tongue will be able to quickly detect.  Once your tongue detects these various sugars, the stimulation of sweetness from the wine will be ever so present in your mouth.

Alcohol is also present in wine, although your tongue doesn’t really know how to decipher the taste of alcohol.  Even though the tongue doesn’t really taste alcohol, the alcohol is present in the mouth.  The alcohol found in wine will dilate blood vessels and therefore intensify all of the other flavors found in the wine.After you have tasted some wines, the alcohol level can easily have effected your taste buds, making it hard to determine the taste of other drinks that you may have.

Another flavor is acidity, which will effect the sugars.  With the proper balance of acidity, the overall flavor of wine can be very overwhelming.  Once you taste wine that contains it, the flavor of the acidity will be well known to your tongue.  Although acidity is great with wine, too much of it will leave a very sharp taste.  With the right levels, acidity will bring the flavors of the grape and fruits alive in your mouth – providing you with the perfect taste.

Yet another effect of flavor are tannins, which are the proteins found in the skins of grapes and other fruits.  If a wine has the right amount of tannins, it will give your tongue a great feel, and bring in the sensations of the other flavors.  Once a wine starts to age, the tannins will begin to breakdown in the bottle, giving you a softer feel to the taste.  Tannins are essential for the taste of wine – providing the wine has been properly aged.

The last flavor associated with wine is oak.  Although oak isn’t put into the wine during the manufacturing process, it is actually transferred during the aging process, as most wines will spend quite a bit of time in oak barrels.  Depending on how long the wine is left in the oak barrel or cask, the ability to extract the flavor will vary.  Most often times, wine will be aged just enough to where the oak taste is visibly there – and adds the perfect sentiment to the taste.

Though there are many other flavors involved with the taste of wine, they are not as prominent as those mentioned earlier.  The above flavors are the most present in wine, and also the flavors that you need to get more familiar with.  Before you try to taste wine or distinguish flavors, you should always learn as much you can about the components responsible for the flavors.  This way – you will know more about what you are tasting and you’ll truly be able to appreciate wine.

Wherever I go, I’m going out all the time trying the latest restaurants and culinary creations. I have been doing so as I am a self-declared gourmet from the womb. But sometimes, its nice to have a night in and be the one making the meals, rather than just eating them. Because I’m not the type to stick to a one-pan-easy-casserole-type-of-concoction, nor am I adept enough to combine flavors like the experts in my favorite restaurants, I turn to food sites for help with all my culinary questions.

If you’re like me, and can’t always follow a recipe without visual instructions, check out www.Gourmandia.com. The site includes not only written instructions, but also videos of chefs preparing the recipes. Recipes are divided into categories of the most popular videos, as well as by restaurants, which are predominantly French or French-inspired, as well as healthy recipes. You can also search by chef and see their Michelin ratings, which is fun as they are all European. Also take advantage of the site’s special touches, like napkin-folding instructions as well as a store where you can purchase a selection of quality gourmet goods.

If you’re not in the mood for French but feel like trying out a new recipe, and can’t decide whether to go exotic or traditional; direct your browser to www.ifood.tv, where you can watch people who love to cook make recipes in their home kitchens. After watching your recipe being made you can print the recipe to try it yourself in the kitchen. IFood is for everyone who feels inspired.tv and share some of your own recipes with the cooking world.

At www.VideoRecipesOnline.com, you can find video instructions on cooking meals that are quick and easy. How to turn packaged food-products and flavorings into a whole meal can be seen in each video demonstration. The site for families who want to make home-cooked meals but have little time to do so. However, if you’re into making elaborate meals from scratch, you can skip it.

Did you notice how the Food Network has become very popular in the last few years? The chefs are just as celebrated as their famous clientèle! Watch your favorite Food Network stars at www making the recipes you forgot to TiVo anytime you want, if you are a fan of the famous Chefs.FoodNetwork.com. You can search videos by popular chefs or by recipe categories and make yummy noises right along with Rachel or Giada.

One of my favorite sites, and the one I probably use the most can be found at http://AllRecipes.com. I like allrecipes.com because it really does seem to have every recipe imaginable. Not only does the site include recipes, it also has instructional videos on those tricky techniques real chefs seem to perform with such ease; like pitting an avocado or cutting and serving cake without all the layers falling apart. The range of recipes and levels of expertise are also extensive, so no matter what you’re cooking up, allrecipes.com can probably help you out.

These sites are easy to navigate and can provide a lot of help for those who like to eat and want to try making fabulous food for themselves.