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Brain food: Does food taste better from a silver spoon?

Richard Cornish
Richard Cornish

Does food taste better off a silver spoon?
Does food taste better off a silver spoon?Natalie Boog

With recent changes in Canberra I was wondering what it was like to eat from a silver spoon. K. Leith

If you're really into your food, gold-plated cutlery is far better to eat from. An experiment at University College London's Institute of Making had students eat food from cutlery made from different metals. Some were reactive metals such as copper and zinc that made food taste odd and metallic. Silver reacted with compounds in foods, such as the sulphur in eggs, to produce off aromas. Non-reactive stainless steel fared much better but gold, an inert metal, received a thumbs up from all tasters.

I was reading a history of the Roman Empire and there was a reference to a spice called laser. Could you shed some light on this? F. Hughes

To think that a flavour could become extinct seems an odd idea. I am not discussing discontinued lines such as Mello Yello, Polly Waffles or Spurt chewing gum, which ejaculated its liquid centre when chewed. No, we are talking extinction of a species. Imagine what your cooking would taste like if suddenly there were no onions or garlic. This happened in the Roman period. One of the most important spices was a plant native to the southern Mediterranean called silphium. The Romans called it laser.

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It looked like a big, fat fennel plant with broad celery-like leaves. It grew wild and did not thrive in cultivated soil. It was harvested for its piquant flavour and resin extracted from the stem and root. The root was harvested across North Africa and shipped to Greek cities, and later Rome. It was ubiquitous in cooking and medicine. Over-harvesting caused its decline and it was reported that when the last root was found in the first century AD it was sent to Emperor Nero.

Another closely related plant, ferula was then harvested from what is now Iran. Although considered inferior it was regarded as a suitable substitute. Asafoetida comes from the same genus of plants and is believed to be a suitable substitute for those recreating ancient recipes calling for "laser" or silphium.

I was told not to put salt into my marinade. Why?

Osmosis. When you put salt in a marinade you create a salty liquid. The cell walls of your food (chicken, meat, fish or vegetables) are semi permeable. When the liquid outside a cell wall is saltier, such as a salt marinade, water naturally moves from the cell into the marinade to try to even out the concentration of the solution. If you use a salty – or even very sweet marinade – you'll draw moisture out of whatever you're marinating. This is good when one pre-salts a duck leg prior to making a confit in fat – but no good if you like juicy fish fillets or moist chops. Season the food with salt just prior to cooking for juicy, plump food.

Letters

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Our recent discussion on cleaning bread bowls has generated a flurry of correspondence. "Robyn" writes: "I have always had success with putting my bread bowl aside to air dry. Once the dough is dry I use a stiff scraper to remove the residue dough." The discussion around cutting of bread rolls with the butter knife has raised the ire of the anti-manners lobby. D. Erwin describes advice on the correct use of breaking the bread roll with one's hands as "snobbish tosh" and suggests one pick up the roll in one hand and "grab a pad (sic) of butter with other hand" and grind them together. Please excuse me; there are some Visigoths at the front door.

Send your vexing culinary conundrums to brainfood@richardcornish.com.au or tweet to @Foodcornish

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Richard CornishRichard Cornish writes about food, drinks and producers for Good Food.

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