Survey
* Your assessment is very important for improving the workof artificial intelligence, which forms the content of this project
* Your assessment is very important for improving the workof artificial intelligence, which forms the content of this project
“Man and his creations” conference by Athens Calls Athens 21-23 Oktober 2020 The History of the Greek Sense of Taste in Food Prof. dr. Boskou George Department of Nutrition and Dietetics School of Health Science & Education Harokopio University Athens [email protected], FB:@FoodJokey „Deipnosofistai” verses 60 b,c Athinaios (Athenaeus) 2-3 century AD leavened little piece of dark bread, sprinlkled with straw, each of the two of us had, twice a day, and a few figs. sometime mushroom was roasted and snail, when the dew was down, and grasped some local greens and chrashed olives, and we had to drink pitty wine of doubtfull quality Could we ever consider the life without the sense of taste? Is a basic function of our human body, a basic sense It allows the qualitative evaluation of our food Prevents the swallowing of undesired substances It provides delight and pleasure (hedone) Activates the memory with experiences of the past According to Aristotle the taste should be above all senses Aristotle and the senses Aristotle (384-322 BC) in his work "On the Soul" defined the five human senses as we know them touch, vision, hearing, smell and taste and underligns that the taste is the basic condition for the serenity of the soul (Aristotle, „On the Soul”, book 2nd, chapter Ι') In another book he states the taste above all the other senses should be able to sense the common everything «....έπρεπεν η γεύσις περισσότερον των άλλων αισθήσεων να αισθάνηται τα κοινά πάντα» (Aristotle, „On Sense and Sensible”, chapter. Δ') Hipocrattes and the tastes Hipocrattes, almost 100 years before Aristotle, classified the food in 4 categories according to the physiological responces in the human body: warm (e.g. onion), cold (e.g asparagus), dry (e.g grapes), wet (e.g lettuce). However this classifications was not clear enough, therefore later he made another classification according to the taste responce: sweet, sour, salty, bitter, harsh and tart Since then the basic tastes are sweet, bitter, salty, sour The combination of the 4 basic tastes, and their intensity, creates other complex tastes The tastes are captured by the taste bubs on the tongue and through 13 nerves the signals are transmitted to the brain that distinguishes or combined tastes. The feeling of harsh, tart and spicy are not considered basic tastes but physiological responces. Counterbalance of tastes Usually there is a counterbalance between the sweet and sour taste and between the bitter and salty taste sweet bitter taste sour salty Umami taste Is either the 5th taste or the hedonic combination of the other 4 (?) It was defined in 1908 by the Japanese chemist Kikunae Ikeda It is an expression of the savory taste or savory integration (?) Uppon umami taste the development of modern taste enhancers was based (MSG, “Ajinomoto”) About 100 years before Savarin gave the name "osmazome" for the flavour of cooked meat The taste is decisive Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin was a man of multidisciplanary education in law, chemisty and medicine. In 1825 he wrote the legendary book “Physiologie du goût”, the testament of moderm gastronomy. In his book he states that: “While the smell explores the food, the taste is to decide” Euchymia (ευχυμία) The word flavour, that describes both the smell and taste in the ancient greek language is defined as ευχυμία (euchymia) Etymology: eu- (ευ-) meaning good and -chymia from chymos (χυμός) meaning juice, sap. So the word euchymia or flavour describes the aroma and the taste of food when it is whithin the mouth cavity Claudius Galenus in 2nd cent AD wrote the thesis „De euchymia et cacochymia, seu de bonis malísque succis generandis” The “euchymia” of Aristotle «...τώρα πρέπει να πραγματευθώμεν περί οσμής και χυμού, τα οποία δηλούσι το αυτό σχεδόν πάθος (αίσθημα), αλλά δεν γίνονται και τα δύο εις τα αυτά όργανα» “...and now we must elaborate on smell and taste (chymos), that deem nearly the same sense (pathos), but are not both perceived in the very same organs” (Aristotle, „On Sense and Sensible”, chapter. Δ') Aristotle and the balance of tastes (chymoi) «Όπως δε τα χρώματα γίνονται εκ της μίξεως του λευκού και του μέλανος, ούτως οι χυμοί γίνονται εκ του γλυκέος καί του πικρού. Ούτως ο λιπαρός είναι ο χυμός του γλυκέος, ο δε αλμυρός καί ο πικρός είναι σχεδόν ο αυτός χυμός, ο δε δριμύς καί αυστηρός καί ο στρυφνός καί ο οξύς χυμός είναι χυμοί διάμεσοι» „As the colors are made from the mixture of white and black, so the juices are made from the sweet and the bitter. Thus the fatty is the juice of the sweet, and the salty and the bitter is almost the same juice, and the harsh and tart and the sour and the sharp juice are juices in between” salty bitter sweet (fatty) harsh, tart, sour, sharp Tasty is hedonic The term Hedone (ηδονή), is a Greek word for pleasure. In mythology Hedone was a minor goddess, daughter of Eros and Psyche It was also a philosophical concept for the Epicurean school, the hedonism. The term „tasty” characterises the property of a food to irritate the taste buds of the tongue and to create a nervous stimulation of pleasure (hedone). The hedonic disk of Olive Oil The hedonic disk of Wine The chalenge of taste complexity In the begining the 20th century Bampis Anninos lays satyric critisism on the meals of the bourgeois of his era in the book called “The Compendium of the Stomach” Η πρόκληση της πολυπλοκότητα της γεύσης «... Διαταράσσουν δε το μαγειρικόν καθεστώς εκάστοτε και αι φαντασιοπληξίαι των εκκεντρικών. Διότι, αν εις την αρχαιότητα η νευροπαθής Κλεοπάτρα ανέλυσεν εις όξος και ερρόφησεν τον βαρύτιμον αυτής μαργαρίτην, ευρέθησαν και άλλοι άσωτοι εις νεωτέρας εποχάς, οίτινες προς επίδειξιν έτρωγον ομελέτας επιπεπασμένας δια κόνεως πολυτίμων λίθων κοπανισμένων, όπως ευρέθησαν προ ολίγου χρόνου μερικοί και μερικαί μπλαζέ του καλού κόσμου εν Αγγλία, οι οποίοι αηδιάζοντες την μονοτονίαν των συνήθων γευμάτων, επενόησαν τας σαλάτας εκ πετάλων ρόδων ή μενεξέδων, ηρτυμένων δι' αρώματος Κολωνίας...». Μπάμπης Άννινος “Το Συναξάριο του Στομάχου” The chalenge of taste complexity They disrupt the culinary regime in each case and the fantasies of the eccentrics. For, if in antiquity the neuropathic Cleopatra dissolved in acid and drunk the precious pearls, other prodigals were found in modern times, that ate omelets sprinkled with dust of precious stones, to show off. As found recently, some “blasé” ladies and gentlemen of the English “bourgeoisie”, who, disgusted by the monotony of the usual meals, indulged in salads made of petals from roses or violets, scented with “Eau de Cologne” ... Bampis Anninos “The Compendium of the Stomach” The ancient „scholars” of food & senses Homer of Ionia, epic poet, provided detailed description of meals and feasts in Ilias and Odyssey (8th-7th b.C.) Empedocles of Akragas, philosopher, described the physiology of senses (5th b.C.) Iccus of Taranto, athlete, founder of athletic dietology (5th b.C.) Mithaecus of Sicily, famous cook, the author of the first cook book (5th b.C.) Archestratos of Gela or Syraccuse, the first journalist of gastronomy, author of „Hedypatheia” (4th b.C.) Mnesitheus of Athens, physician, the first dietitian, author of the work “On Diet” (4th b.C.) Herodicus of Selymbria, physician tutor o Hippocrates (4th b.C.) Hippocrates of Kos, physician, patron of medicine (4ο b.C.) Aristotle of Stagira, great philosopher, author of „On Senses and Sensible” amond many others (4th b.C.) The ancient „scholars” of food & senses Epicurus of Samos, philosopher of empiricism (sences is the source of knowledge) and hedonism (pleasure is ethical and pain is evil), (3th-4th b.C.) Theophrastus of Eresos, plilosopher and herbalist, patron of botany (3th-4th b.C.) Dioscourides of Cilicia, systematic herbalist, (1st a.D.) Plutarch of Chaeronea, philosopher and biographer, wrote nutritional advice in the work „On Children Education” (1st a.D.) Apicius, roman gourmet, the important cookbook „De Re Coquinaria” is attributed to him but is actually a collective work (2nd a.D.) Galenus of Pergamon, physician, patron of pharmacy (2nd a.D.) Athenaeus of Naucratis, philologist, author of the work „Deipnosophistae” (2nd-3d a.D.) Paulus of Aegina, physician, author of the first medical encyclopedia (7th. a.D.) some ancient cooking devices “Gastra”, casserole, roaster “Estia”: oven, grill, fryer, steamer “Krateftes” barbecue for skewers The tastes in Ancient times Socrates, Plato and Aristotle in example never tasted sugar, potatos, tomatos oranges, lemons, aubergines, bell peppers and other common ingredients of the mediterranean cuisine. So there is a philosophical question: What was the taste of ancient food? The history of taste (chronogastronomy) Our purpose was to capture something intangible, that is, the taste of our ancestors. With bibliographic study, where a scrutinus observation was made on the main ingredients of cited recipes. About ten or more recipes were studied from each period. Very good bibliographic sources were the books of Andrew Dalby: „Siren feasts: a history of food and gastronomy in Greece” and „Food in the Ancient World from A to Z” Taste score Each recipe was rated on an hedonic scale of 5 degrees for intensity of each of the four basic tastes Increasing intensity 1 bitter sour sweet salty 2 3 4 5 Intentisity of taste per period bitter sour ΠΙΚΡΟ ΞΥΝΟ sweet salty ΓΛΥΚΟ ΑΛΜΥΡΟ 5 4 3 2 1 0 Ne ic h t i ol e ra & c i s s a Cl He ra e ic t s i ll en Ro ra e n a m By z ra e ne i t an a m to t O r ne a y c i en l l he o Ne rs a e The geography of taste (geogastronomy) In another study we tried to alocate the basic tastes and taste properties in different areas of modern Greece An extended database of Greek recipes was used (an outcome of a time-consuming effort, that now counts to ~10,000 entries) About thirty or more recipes were studied from each geographic area. A three star rating system was used (*slight, **mild, ***strong) TASTE TASTE Sweet***, Sweet***,Bitter*, Bitter*,Salty***, Salty***,Sour** Sour** PROPERTY PROPERTY Spicy***, Spicy***,Herbal***, Herbal***,Fatty** Fatty** TASTE TASTE Sweet**, Sweet**,Bitter**, Bitter**,Salty*, Salty*,Sour* Sour* PROPERTY PROPERTY Spicy**, Spicy**,Herbal*, Herbal*,Fatty* Fatty* TASTE TASTE Sweet**, Sweet**,Bitter*, Bitter*,Salty**, Salty**, Sour*** Sour*** PROPERTY PROPERTY Spicy**, Spicy**,Herbal***, Herbal***, Fatty** Fatty** TASTE TASTE Sweet**, Sweet**,Bitter**, Bitter**,Salty**, Salty**,Sour** Sour** PROPERTY PROPERTY Spicy***, Spicy***,Herbal***, Herbal***,Fatty** Fatty** This presentation was based on Μπόσκου Γ. και Παλησίδης Γ., Οι Έλληνες και η αίσθηση της γεύσης, περιοδικό ΑΡΧΑΙΟΛΟΓΙΑ τεύχος 115, Ιούνιος 2010 Μπόσκου Γ. και Παλησίδης Γ., Οι αλλαγές στη μαγειρική και την εστίαση στο χρόνο, περιοδικό ΑΡΧΑΙΟΛΟΓΙΑ τεύχος 117, Δεκέμβριος 2010 Μπόσκου Γ. και Παλησίδης Γ., Νέα Διατροφικά Πρότυπα, Εκδόσεις ΙΜΕ-ΓΣΕΒΒΕ, ISBN 978618-5025-03-8, 2012 „On Ends” There would be no better epilogue to this presentation than a phrase of Epicurus (341-270 π.Χ.) from his work „On Ends” (Περί Τέλους): „I do not know of what to think as good, when I set aside the pleasures of taste, love, hearing - even the pleasant movements by the sight of a shape, and any other perceptions of pleasure born on the entire man with any sensory organ”