A cooking lesson for a broke student

TV chef Claus Angelo has hit the University of Copenhagen lecture halls this fall.

In a series of two evenings, he tells new students about the basics of taste and refined spice-mixing for those on a budget. And even though the lectures are in Danish, taste pyramids and food samples speak their own universal language.

The sample plates were laden with small edible tidbits and strange-smelling concoctions.

Flavour, or just ‘irritation’

They represented five basic food tastes, called salt, sweet, bitter, sour, and umami – the latter, a ‘newly-discovered’ taste found mostly in meat, fish and seaweed, used very often in Japanese food. The visitors got to experience ‘umami’ first-hand with a slurp of fresh seaweed-water from the sample plate.

A new discovery for this reporter was that some spices are not considered to have ‘taste’ – rather, they irritate the nose or mouth, which enhances food flavor.

A small piece of extra-strong chili confirmed the claim, as it seemed to want to destroy taste buds rather than make them taste something.

A few cheap tips

Fortunately, Angelo had some neutralizing flavours handy. For instance by adding lemon to balance out a food that is too salty.

Here is a recipe from the evening that could even work on a student budget: Bulgur (cous cous can also be used), boil with fresh tomatoes. When it is done, add crisped, diced bacon, and finely-chopped fried leeks. You can also replace bacon with mushrooms.

And now to the totally cheap: Cauliflower soup. Boil and blend cauliflower, spice with salt, pepper, butter browned on a pan, and a little nutmeg.

uni-avis@adm.ku.dk

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