The Flavor Enhancing Power of Acids!

If you have read my series on “Cooking without a Recipe,” you will have learned how to evaluate a dish when tasting it and how to improve the taste. It involves balancing the components of salt, acid and sweet. This Cooking Tip will concentrate on one of those components – Acid.

We are trained to add a bit of salt when we are seasoning a dish. In addition to salt, great chefs know that adding an acidic element can elevate the flavor in a way that salt cannot. Examples of acidic ingredients are citrus juice, vinegar, white wine, buttermilk, yogurt and sour cream.

You can probably recall from high school chemistry that acids are substances with a pH lower than 7, the neutral point. They also react with alkalis to neutralize them. They do have an essential part in cooking and baking.

Purposes of acids

• Preservation – in baked goods, acids help extend shelf life.
• Chemical leavening – acids react with sodium bicarbonate (or other alkalis) to produce carbon dioxide gas, which results in building volume in your baked goods.
• Flavor enhancement and balancing – acids add desirable sharp or sour notes and balance sweetness.

Before discussing individual acids, realize there are natural sources of all of them, but they are also commercially produced. Some chefs like to have powdered versions of these acids available. This allows them to add the zing of the acid without adding any additional liquid or other flavors such as when you add citrus juice or vinegar. If you have never investigated powdered acids, look at this sample pack from Modernist Pantry. They also have a video talking about the uses of these products. You may also want to watch this episode of What’s Eating Dan by Dan Souza of America’s Test Kitchen.

Citric acid

• This is found in various fruits and vegetables, especially citrus fruits.
• It has an intense and bright taste, but it is short-lived.
• It is also known as sour salt because of its taste and texture, but it has no salt in it.
• Uses
  • Reach for citric acid when you want a dish to taste fresh, such as with salads, white fish, and cooked veggies.
  • It loses some of its tang when heated. This can be good if you want a more subdued acidity, but if you want it to stand out, add it towards the end of the cooking process.
  • It acts as an emulsifying agent in some ice creams to prevent separation.
  • It can keep fruits and veggies fresher by interfering with oxidation and the resulting browning. Serious Eats tested this by using citric acid on apples to prevent browning. They found that the concentration required to prevent browning made the apples too sour to eat. In lesser concentrations, they were more palatable but did not work as well in preventing browning.
  • By combining a small amount with milk, you can easily make ricotta cheese.

Tartaric acid

• This is derived from wine by-products as well as cherries, lemons, bananas and avocados.
• It has a sharper flavor than citric acid.
• It is often combined with baking soda and used as a leavening agent. You might think of this as a DIY baking powder if you just happen to have tartaric acid in your pantry. Few of us do. Manufacturers started producing baking powder by replacing tartaric acid with monocalcium phosphate. If you look at your can of baking powder, you will most likely see monocalcium phosphate.
• Tartaric acic is the predominant flavor in tamarind.
• Be aware that tartaric acid and cream of tartar are not identical. In scientific terms, “cream of tartar is the potassium salt of tartaric acid.” Cream of tartar is made by combining tartaric acid with potassium hydroxide. This partially neutralizes the tartaric acid, so cream of tartar is less acidic than tartaric acid. The two of them are not interchangeable.
  
  

Lactic acid

• Since it is found in sour milk products such as yogurt, it is sometimes called milk acid. It is the acid that adds the “sour” to sourdough bread and is involved in the process of fermentation, such as with pickles or kimchi.
• It is a flavor enhancer and provides a natural sour taste.
• The flavor is softer than citric acid, but it can add a bit of the taste of fermented products.
• It can be used when you want a quieter zing of acid, such as in sauces or veggie dishes.

Malic acid

• This acid is found in unripe fruit, particularly apples.
• The flavor is very tart and lingers on the palate. Think of a green apple.
• It is often used in meat dishes.

Ascorbic acid

• AKA Vitamin C
• It is found in citrus, tomatoes, melons and berries.
• It is an antioxidant and is used to prevent the adverse effects of oxidation, such as browning in packaged goods.
• Is also used to prevent browning of cut fruits and vegetables.
• Helps to stabilize the gluten network in bread doughs.

Acetic acid

• Think of the acidity of vinegar or kombucha.
• Is produced when alcohol is fermented in the presence of oxygen.
• It has a pungent smell and will assert itself in a dish.
• Although it can be found in other food items, we mainly see it in vinegars.

Learning to taste and balance flavors should be a goal for all of us cooks. It comes easier to some than others due to the differences in our palates. However, by experimenting with the elements of salt, sweet, and acid, we can see for ourselves how these affect the flavor of our dishes. I still recall a friend making a Mexican-style soup and saying it was bland. However, after I instructed her to add some acid (in this case, lime juice), that soup was elevated from just edible to delicious. Acids are essential, and I trust this tip will encourage you not to forget about them when tasting your food!