Why does fat taste sweet?
Explain.
Pure fat is basically tasteless.
does it?
Explain.
I don’t think it tastes like anything
I have never noticed fat tasting sweet.
Sweetened fat tastes sweet, due to added sugar.
Same here - not much taste to pure fat.
Can the OP give us an idea what he/she considers a fat.
Pure fats are things like butter, vegetable oil, mayonnaise (well virtually pure).
Butter tastes good, and something about it enhances the taste of sugar, but I don’t think it is sweet in and of itself.
Right. And terms like “sweet cream butter” are a bit of a misnomer, it just means “not salted” kinda like “sweet” peppers on a dipped beef just means “not hot.”
Not exactly, according to Butter - Wikipedia
Go eat some Crisco. Report back.
Huh. Would ya look at that. Thanks! Still not actually sweet, but not necessarily salty, either. See why I come here?
Go down to Bayard St. in NYC. Or fly to Shanghai. Go to a restaurant and order Dong Po Pork.
Melt-on-your-tongue fat simmered in rock sugar.
Otherwise, fat isn’t sweet.
The browned fat on the edge of a steak tastes sweet to me.
Crisp chicken or duck skin takes sweet to me.
Anything with a lot of butter on it tastes sweet to me.
Some very creamy cheeses taste sweet to me.
Am I really the only one???
Yes you are.
In this thread.
So far.
I find the browned fat on chops, steak, etc. sweet as well. The same fat does not taste sweet if it’s been cooked by boiling. It’s something to do with the browning, I think.
I guess you’re not the only one now, but I don’t taste sweet for any of those except maybe some cheeses (but the cheeses make sense, as fresh cheeses–like cream cheeses–usually have a good bit of lactose [milk sugar] in them). Chicken skin is definitely not sweet to me.
Well, pace CookingWithGas,* the browned fat on a steak and the crispy skin are sweet, primarily from what is known as the Maillard reaction (non-Wiki cite, just cuz, and this is a better one).
What was/is termed “browning” was discovered to involve a chemical change of sugar and protein, and the browning process was/is often confused with caramelization which is a chemical process involving sugar only.
About the dairy. Lactose is nothing more nor less than a sugar, and, I now find out, can constitute 2-8% of milk by weight. ratatoskK is apparently a very tolerant person, at least towards milk sugar.
- Without GQ, I would be miserable, having no place to write “pace.”
See, I don’t characterize that flavor as “sweet.” To me, it’s “savory” or “umami,” quite distinct from sweet. There might be a sweet tinge to it, but I would never describe it primarily as such. It’s more “rich,” “full,” and “meaty.”
I agree. No-one except me in a post trying to make a point would ordinarily call the results of Maillard reactions “sweet,” but the flavor is definitely there. On the other hand, browned onions, cooked down to a marmelade (confít) is sweet as can be.
Oh, yeah, cooked down onions are definitely sweet.