Food is intimately intertwined with communication, we say “I care about you” with a favorite meal or treat, “I am thinking about you” with a plate of homemade cookies and “I love you” with fancy chocolates or chocolate covered fruit like our Super Easy Chocolate Covered Strawberry Hearts Yet when it comes to talking about the flavor, texture or very essence of food we hesitate and struggle to find the right word to say what we mean. Like any other subject cooking has its own specialized vocabulary. Culinary terms are the language of cooking, giving you the power to express both the observed details and the emotions these flavors inspire.

A flavor profile is in short a list of terms commonly used to help describe the taste and characteristics of a spice, herb or other culinary item. Developing a better understanding of the flavor profile empowers your cooking. The more you grasp the concept of flavors and how they blend for the better or for worse, the clearer understanding you will have of the combined overall effect they will create when cooking. Cooking with spices and herbs for flavor is simple and enjoyable, but like learning to ride a bike is it not without its learning curve.

The more you get acquainted with any spice or herb friend the better you will be at knowing how to use it in scrumptious and tantalizing ways to make truly spectacular dishes not only for yourself but for friends and family as well! The added bonus of developing such an acquaintance allows you to identify and re-create even those special restaurant favorites your family loves so well!

To get an idea of what characteristics a spice or herb holds, rub it between your fingers. Smell it. Taste it. Feel it. Even my kids love doing this. They make a guessing game out of the activity and try to name the herb or spice I gave them.

A simple starting place is the five basic flavors: sweet, sour, bitter, salty, and savory. But as any spice, herb, tea or wine connoisseur will tell you these terms are only the mere starting point for talking about flavor and aroma.

Like many things, spices and herbs rarely have a single flavor but tend to belong to multiple categories. Below are a few culinary terms that will help empower your descriptions of the flavorful world that surrounds us all. Please bear in mind, that personal taste and cultural upbringings will influence how different people categorize flavors. Consider the bland-spicy continuum for example. For my family, Thanksgiving is always a debate of flavors. A dish my mother-in-law calls bland, my sister-in-laws declares too spicy to even consider eating!

This list is not meant to be exhaustive. There is always more to learn. In an effort to provide a good foundation for understanding spices and herbs, I have limited the terms to those I felt would be most useful. Therefore it does not contain culinary terms like salty/briny which seldom applies to the topic of spices and herbs, or advanced terminology like camphoraceous, astringent, oleogustus, smoky and acidic.

 

Bitter/Depth: Commonly used to describe stronger tasting items that frequently necessitate an acquired taste, such as coffee, dark chocolate and some wines and beers. Spices that tend to fall into this category include: clove, cumin, juniper berries, mace, peppercorns and turmeric. Herbs in this category are bay leaf, oregano, sage and thyme.

 

Cooling/Refreshing: Things that fall into this category are foods that tend to give your palate that refreshed sensation. Think of items such as a minty ice cream or mint tea. Spices that tend to end up in this category are anise seed and dill seed, while herbs that fall here are sweet basil, parsley and all of your various mints.

 

Earthy/Musty: This is just what is sounds like! Normally a term given to items tied to the earth more or less, think of most root crops such as mushrooms, beets, potatoes and turnips. These foods are often described as having a rather earthy flavor as part of their profiles. While some might think of this flavor term as rather disgusting, I actually consider it among my favorite profile types. This flavor phenomenon is due to the presence of the organic compound known as geosmin. Geosmin also plays a part in the scent you smell when disturbing the soil or tilling a garden. When the same earthy scent occurs after a soaking rain that was proceeded by a warm dry spell, it is called petrichor. Some spices that fall into this category are coriander, cumin, caraway, paprika, saffron and turmeric. An example of herbs in this profile would be oregano, rosemary and thyme.

 

Floral: To get a better understanding of this flavor characteristic think along the lines of how your finer herbal teas tend to taste and smell. Simply put the aromas of roses, hibiscus, or jasmine flowers. Spices that fall into this category are coriander and saffron, while herbs that have floral notes are things such as lavender, sweet basil and thyme.

 

Fruity/Citrus: Flavors described as fruity tend to range from the taste of sweet tree ripened fruit to a tangy citrus sensation. Spices that are considered to have a fruity quality to their flavor profile are anise seeds and star anise. Some herbs that are considered fruity are fennel, lemon thyme, sage, cilantro, and summer savory.

 

Herbaceous/Grass or Hayish: This is the aroma profile best describing the local bulk health-food store I visited frequently with my father as a kid. It’s a rich herbal scent/flavor almost an appealing rugged musk in a way. Fresh cut grass or hay would be considered in this category as well as chives, oregano, tarragon, many herbal teas and matcha. There are actually a few spices that sometimes fall into this category as well, they include cinnamon, black pepper, aniseed, and cloves.

 

Hot/Warm (depending on the level of warmth they give): Here we are talking about flavors that have the ability to heat up your tongue and mouth very quickly! Hot or warm flavors may cause your eyes to water, have that “nose clearing” effect, or even make you rush for the nearest glass of liquid! 🙂 Sometimes they leave you coughing, sneezing, wheezing, or with a bad case of the hiccups! The spices listed here are: chilies, cinnamon, ginger, horseradish, mustard, peppercorns, turmeric and wasabi. Classic herbs that are sometimes labeled as warm or hot are basil, chives, garlic and sage.

 

Nutty: Simply put, think of the fresh nutty taste of Fresh Homemade Cashew and Almond Nut Milk or cashew butter and transfer those flavor notes onto non-nut areas. Some spices considered to have a nutty quality to them are coriander, cumin, fenugreek seed, mustard seeds, nutmeg and sesame seeds. I don’t currently know of any herbs that fit this category other then possible cilantro. If you have any suggestions, please drop us a comment below! 🙂

 

Piney: This flavor has a bite to it that is a tad bitter and sometimes pungent. Ever tried chewing on a pine needle as a kid? 🙂 Not many spices get put in this category, but some herbs are bay laurel, cardamom, rosemary, sage and both standard thyme and lemon thyme.

 

Intense/Pungent: Things normally added to this flavor area are generally very strong in both taste and aroma. They must be used with caution to prevent overwhelming your dish or recipe, unless of course that is your desired intent. 🙂 Spices and herbs that are considered to have pungent qualities are things such as allspice, dill seeds, garlic, ginger, horseradish, mustard, star anise, sage, rosemary and wasabi.

 

Sour/tart: If your thoughts turn to lemons and your mouth starts puckering up you’re on the right track! Without the sour flavors, the sensation of sweet would not be so pleasurable. Interestingly, it is actually the sour flavors that cause you to salivate more. So whether you tend to be a fan of sour flavors or not, they play a big part in making our world much more sweeter and helping to creating balance. An example of the herbs and spices that make up this category would include: sorrel, tarragon, amchoor (dried mango powder) and tamarind.

 

Spicy: You might think spicy is the same as hot, but actually they are two completely different things. Things that are described as having a spicy flavor quality are those with bold and sometimes fiery
flavors or personalities, but which are very short lived. Offering a quick “kick in the palate” without any lingering heat that spreads throughout your whole being. Spices considered to have a spicy attribute are bay laurel, cassia cinnamon, cloves, coriander, cumin, ginger, marjoram, nutmeg and oregano.

 

Sweet/honeyed: This is rather self explanatory especially for all of you unhealthy sugar addicts out there with “sweet tooths”. 😉 Sweet flavors are commonly found paired with foods with the flavor quality of salty or sour giving us a burst of well-rounded but addicting flavor profiles that keep us coming back for more. Our taste buds react to the mix of opposites creating fireworks and giving our brain a rather addicting chemical reaction. Spices and herbs with sweet or honeyed qualities to their flavor profiles are allspice, apple mint, caraway, cardamom, cinnamon, cinnamon basil, cloves, dill seed, lemon thyme, nutmeg, peppermint, sesame seeds, spearmint, star anise and vanilla.

 

Woody: No, this doesn’t mean tough or dry. Like earthy it plays an important part in balancing other culinary flavors helping to create depth and bring out each ones’ unique flavor qualities.
Some different herbs and spices with a woody essence are cardamom, cinnamon, juniper berries peppercorns, and rosemary.

 

Although I am far from the expert on this topic, and am always learning myself, I truly hope you enjoyed my break down of some basic culinary flavor profiles. I also hope it helps you become better equipped to take on the culinary world that awaits you!

Promoting a deeper understanding of cooking, The Homesteading Hen

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