MOH has this super affinity for anything cheesy. As a kid, he took full advantage of his karate days and would blow off his caloric burn by frying up cheese in a pan. It sounds really gross, but I've actually tried it and it's a pretty good cheesy crisp. He's not one to say no to a good Mozzarella stick and every night likes to have either a cheese quesadilla or grilled cheese sandwich. Neither of these is truly legit though - I like to make quesadillas by melting the cheese in a microwave, and make the "grilled" cheese by placing the sandwich in an oven until the cheese melts.
So come Saturday, and MOH just finished dinner but was still hungry. He asked for a grilled cheese and I decided to get all "fancy" and use some of my caramelized onions to place inside of his sandwich. We have some Port Salut cheese and it's a great melting cheese. It's really soft and has this great salt taste to it. It's not as salty as Manchego, and reminds me of Mozzarella in texture, but has a much milder flavor than Mozzarella.
Port Salut is probably MOH's favorite cheese. I prefer my cheeses to be more salted and hard (like a good Cheddar or Parmesan), but for MOH, Port Salut is it.
So I did this informal grilled cheese using wheat multigrain with a thin layer of cheese, caramelized onions, and thinly sliced raw yellow onions. I threw the sandwich in the oven on top of a makeshift foil boat and waited until the cheese had melted.
MOH took one bite, and immediately was all "Whew, that is BITTER!" Anyways, he continued to eat the sandwich after removing the bits of raw onion.
Some people are just extremely sensitive to bitter tastes, or other tastes for that matter. You sometimes hear or read about people who have heightened senses (either they were born with it, or had some sort of overcompensation from losing another sense), but is there any scientific basis for this?
I actually came across the idea of a "supertaster," the ultimate connoisseur. It's a real thing scientifically, too (Reed DR, 2008). Supertasters were first identified as having the ability to detect a bitter chemical, 6-n-propylthiouracil (otherwise known as PROP) at a particular concentration. Subjects either were unable to detect this bitter taste, while others found it extremely bitter and offputting - researchers designated the subjects who could detect the bitter compound as "supertasters." Besides heightened bitter taste perception, supertasters are also able to detect subthreshold levels of other taste compounds.
Besides a heightened response for detecting such chemical compounds like the bitter taste, supertasters are also able to discriminate minutia changes in ingredient levels (Hayes JE and Keast R, 2011).
While the actual genetics behind what makes supertasters detect subthreshold levels of food chemicals is still under question, there are some possible mechanisms that may account for this super ability:
- Mutations in channels responsible for sensing flavors - interesting idea, especially considering an older article that spotlighted "supersmeller" mice that had mutations in a potassium channel that caused them to have a heightened sense of smell (Fadool DA et al., 2004).
- A heightened gain or amplification of the neural signal that sends chemical information to the brain
Whatever the actual reason, it's still a pretty cool idea. Another interesting idea is how learning/memory can play a role in becoming a supertaster. I'm sure being a supertaster goes far beyond genetics (I mean, science has shown that genetics are really only a starting point for how our bodies develop). Not everyone is designated the coveted title of "supertaster," but I'm sure that after repeated bouts in the kitchen, almost every home cook should have some sort of super threshold ability to detect when their special dumpling soup needs an extra dash of spice.
***Redemption came through Sunday - I made another grilled cheese, this time upping the ante by sauteing mushrooms and yellow onions together, and slabbing some good ol' cheese on top - success!
References:
Fadool DA et al., 2004. Kv1.3 channel gene-targeted deletion produces "Super-smeller mice" with altered glomeruli, interacting scaffolding proteins, and biophysics. Neuron. 41(3): 389-404.
Hayes KE and Keast J, 2011. Two decades of supertasting: where do we stand? Physiology and Behavior. 104(5): 1072-74.
Reed DR, 2008. Birth of a new breed of supertasters. Chemical Senses. 33(6): 489-91.
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