Aromatic molecules

1. Aromas are based on compounds, including acids, alcohols, phenols, and esters, that one may call “physical” constituents. These are linked to molecules in the other compounds that generate the five tastes—sugar, acid, salt, bitter, and “umami”—to characterize a wine’s or food’s individual taste profile.
2. The mango taste in your yogurt comes partially from the mango’s sweet flavor, but mostly from its various aromatic molecules. Once in your mouth, after helping to provide the physical sensation of mango yogurt, these molecules become gaseous and waft into your nose, where their aromas complete the identification process.
3. MOTHER FLAVOR：It has been shown that flavors pass from the mother to the baby via the amniotic fluid after the eleventh week of pregnancy. So, well before our birth, we have already become accustomed to several aromas and flavors coming from our mother’s diet.
4. The flavor industry, in particular for processed foods, is an $8-billion-a-year industry. Some synthetic molecules have an even stronger taste than their natural equivalents. One example is ethylvanillin, whose taste is three or four times as strong as vanilla.
5. Two-thirds of the American diet is made up of processed foods, most of which contain flavor additives.
   In Cincinnati, Givaudan, the world’s largest manufacturer of flavors and fragrances, makes over 6,000 versions of “strawberry,” as well as 4,000 types of “orange,” 3,000 flavors that taste like “chicken,” and several thousand “butter” fragrances.
6. When we savor a wine, a dish, or a certain ingredient, the taste process passes through several steps. Simply put, we taste in two phases. Primo, via the nose and its perception of aromas. Secundo, via the mouth, as a result of the aromas’ arrival through the nasal passages.
7. We can note, for instance, a particular correspondence between mint and Sauvignon Blanc, as well as among dishes dominated by foods rich in volatile anise-like compounds, such as mint.
8. Several years ago, I noticed that when mint is the dominant taste in a dish such as Middle Eastern tabbouleh (a refreshing bulgur salad with mint and fresh parsley) or a goat cheese sandwich with fresh mint and slices of cucumber and green apple, those dishes pair perfectly with wines, such as Sauvignon Blanc, that are often typified by an anise-like aroma belonging to the mint world.
9. I came to understand that all these ingredients were interconnected by an assembly of similar aromatic molecules possessing a strong attraction for one another.

from:Taste Buds and Molecules: The Art and Science of Food With Wine Hardcover – International Edition, September 28, 2010

总结：

• 葡萄酒的个性可以通过感官来识别出，我们所感觉到（主要通过味觉与嗅觉）的香气和味道主要来源于葡萄酒的各类物质分子（比如脂类和酚类）。
• 怀孕11周后，婴儿就可以在胎盘里接受到妈妈吃的食物里的各种香气。
• 我们品尝到的「果味」，其实并不是实实在在的那个水果，而只是水果香气分子。这些香气分子可以变成气体通过鼻子识别出来。
• 香气工业在食品制造环节里每年会产生出80亿的工业规模。一些人工合成的香气通常会比天然的，味道强度更大。2/3的美国加工食品里都加有香气添加剂，通过人工加工可以合成出6000种不同的「草莓味」、至少4000种「橙子味」、3000多种「鸡肉味」和几千种「黄油味」。
• 我们品尝一款酒或者食物，品尝的过程简单讲就是通过两个步骤：第一步通过鼻子感受香气，第二步通过口腔，确认来自鼻子里的香气。
• 薄荷与长相思Sauvignon Blanc白葡萄酒非常相配。或者说以茴香类香料为主导的食物（比如中东的塔博勒色拉tabbouleh或者用薄荷叶和水果搭配的山羊乳酪色拉）与长相思白葡萄酒都是相配的。
• 餐、食与餐、酒能够搭配的背后重要的原因是他们的香气分子结构极其相似。

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