When you eat an amazing dish, you know it instantly. But what separates good food from top-notch ones? Creating the perfect meal is about so much more than just taste, smell, and appearance. Delicious food combines texture, color, shape, sound, and emotion. To build the ideal meal, your food should have these five elements.
Umami
Umami is the fifth taste and it describes something meaty or savory. To get umami, combine seaweed with shitake mushrooms or garlic and onions with ginger, tomato paste, miso, or soy sauce.
Texture
Foods with varying textures are so much more enjoyable. Combine creamy, crunchy, and chewy elements by topping dishes with scallions, shallots, or nuts and adding crunchy granola and yogurt to smoothie bowls.
Bright Acid
Acid adds an interesting element to food. Some ways to add acid to your dishes are by seasoning dishes with citrus instead of salt.
Healthy Fats
The best way to release the flavors in your dishes is to add fats like olive oil or clarified butter. Not only do healthy fats add a nice taste to meals, they also have health benefits.
Heat
Give your food some dimension by adding ginger, garlic, onion, or horseradish to the dishes.
