Food that embodies six distinct tastes serves as an elixir for the senses. Lacking this essential balance, food can transform into a toxin for both body and mind. The art of cooking aims to transmute basic ingredients into a nourishing meal, integrating all six tastes to enhance health benefits. The culinary process ensures that diverse ingredients like rice, wheat, millet, pulses, vegetables, and animal products are skillfully prepared to include these tastes, resulting in a purified, nutritionally rich dish known as ‘Vyanjana’.
Vyanjana is classified into five categories: BhakShyA (chewable foods), BhOjya (eatables), LEhya (lickable recipes), ChOshya (suckable items), and PEya (drinkable dishes). By weaving the six flavors—sweet, sour, salt, pungent, astringent, and bitter—into each recipe, we elevate the nutritional value and health benefits of these food types.
Take, for example, the versatile eggplant, also known as brinjal, which naturally contains sweet and astringent notes. When ginger, salt, and black pepper are added and it is cooked into a curry, it transforms into a comprehensive, nourishing dish. This culinary philosophy underscores the importance of balance in our diet, promoting holistic well-being through food.
Art of Chitrapakam
Food planning is a pivotal element in maintaining health. Integrating all six tastes into a single dish, a practice termed “Chitrapakam” or “Chitrannam,” is essential for creating a balanced and flavourful meal. An exemplary dish that embodies this philosophy is Pulihora. Traditionally dominated by sour and salty flavours, Pulihora can be enriched with sweetness using jaggery powder, while mustard seeds and fenugreek seeds introduce astringency and bitterness. This comprehensive approach to seasoning not only enriches the flavour profile but also aligns with the holistic dietary practices observed in Vaishnavalayas, where such dishes are often offered to the deity.
While modern culinary science recognizes five primary tastes—including umami, a term derived from the Japanese language denoting a savoury flavour—it often overlooks the astringent taste, vital in Ayurvedic nutrition. Umami is typically associated with meat juices, mushroom sauces, and soy sauce. However, Ayurveda embraces a broader spectrum of tastes, including the astringent, thus enriching the dietary experience by acknowledging the role each flavour plays in health and well-being.
The human tongue, with taste buds capable of identifying and relaying 63 flavour combinations, underscores the importance of a diverse taste profile in each meal. This variety is not merely for enjoyment but is crucial for a fulfilling dining experience, enhancing the overall satisfaction derived from a meal. By embracing the full array of tastes, Chitrapakam elevates the culinary experience, offering both nourishment and pleasure in every bite.
While incorporating all six tastes in every dish may not be possible, an experienced cook will plan and combine various ingredients with the ‘Taste Theory’ in mind.
Certain foods have a single dominant taste, such as:
– Cow’s milk (sweet)
– Tamarind (sour)
– Salt (salty)
– Black pepper (pungent)
– Bitter gourd (bitter)
– Curry leaves (astringent)
Some foods have two combined tastes:
– Jujube fruit and wood apple (sour and sweet)
– Camel milk and sheep mutton (sweet and salty)
– Sesame oil (sweet and astringent)
– Oosara kSHETra (sour and salty)
– Fermented porridge (sour and spicy)
– Liquor (acidic and bitter)
– Elephant curd (acidic and nutty)
Other foods have three combined tastes:
– Wild pigeon meat (sweet, salty, and astringent)
– Lotuses (sweet, salty, and astringent)
– Mogali petals and coriander seeds (sweet, spicy, and astringent)
– Castor oil (pungent, astringent, and sweet)
– Tippatiga and monkey meats (sweet, salty, and bitter)
Some combinations result in four tastes:
– Saindhavalavana in buttermilk with water (sweet, sour, salty, and astringent)
– Yavksharam in Draksha juice (sugary, acidic, salty, and astringent)
– Garlic juice with grape or lemon juice (six different flavours)
Certain recipes incorporate five tastes:
– Amalaki (all except salty)
– Amalaki pickled with saindhavalavana (all six tastes)
– Buttermilk with water, cinnamon powder, and salt (all except bitter)
– Consuming a GAre or VaDa with garlic and fenugreek chutney provides all six flavours. Similarly, Avada, a curd-soaked vada, incorporates all six flavours. When cooking vegetables and mixing them with curd, adding a small amount of mustard powder creates Raita or AvapccaDi, a healthy accompaniment to Chapati. However, many people prefer to eat chapati only with aloo kurma, which lacks bitter and astringent flavours. These two tastes play a crucial role in controlling sugar and cholesterol levels. The rising incidence of diabetes may be attributed to the neglect of bitter and astringent tastes in our diet. Understanding these flavors is essential for both cooks and consumers. Effective healthy food planning involves recognizing and incorporating the six flavours theory into our meals. Food with six tastes is akin to nectar, while food without them is akin to poison.
Dr. G. V. Purnachand
purnachandgv@gmail.com
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