What does Red Clam Sauce Taste Like?
Salty is one of the five main tastes. It has a satisfying and addictive quality with hints of sourness. Salty foods include cheeses, cured meats, chips, and olives. It is used in almost every dish and prepared food. Salt is added to enhance flavor and offer a distinctly salty taste.
Umami is one of five main tastes. It is savory with a depth of flavor. Umami is a taste in many foods, including meat, seafood, beans, and nuts. It is both naturally occurring and created through the specific use of ingredients to create a satisfying taste. Umami is characteristic of proteins and savory dishes.
Spicy is a flavor that brings heat and fire to food by creating a burning sensation in the mouth or sinuses. Spicy flavors come from hot peppers, horseradish, and wasabi. Spicy adds a kick and sometimes complexity to a dish and releases endorphins, creating a mildly addictive quality.
Ingredients
Tomato sauce is an extremely popular Italian sauce used for pizza, pasta and much more. It is made by cooking down tomatoes, seasonings and sometimes oil. The sauce is red and may be smooth or slightly chunky. The texture is slightly thick, yet easy to pour. The flavor of this sauce is tart and sweet with a rich umami flavor from the reduction of tomatoes and a hint of garlic.
Clams are a mollusk, which means they have a shell. The clam is small and bite-sized and has a white meat which is soft and slippery. The flavor of a clam is mild, salty and delicately fishy, without being overpowering. Clams are tender, though when overcooked they become tough. They are used in many cuisines around the world.
White wine is an alcoholic beverage made mainly from green, white or yellow grapes. Red grapes are occasionally used. The wine goes through a fermentation process before bottling and potentially aging. Common white wines include Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Grigio and Chardonnay. White wine is a pale yellow color and varies in shade, depending on the kind of wine. The flavor is milder than red wine and has less tannins. White wine can be sweet or dry and range across many flavors, including fruity, citrusy, floral, minerally and oaky. The ABV hovers between 12.5% - 14.5%. It is best served cool.
Water is a substance and chemical compound made up of hydrogen and oxygen. It is clear, fluid, flavorless and odorless. Water is a necessity in nearly every aspect of life, including cooking, baking and hydrating the human body. Water can be served as a cold beverage, or at any temperature comfortable to the mouth and skin.
Olive oil is extracted from the fresh olive, which grows on a tree. Many olives are needed in the extraction of the oil. This is done by a mechanical process and sometimes by a chemical process, though the mechanical method is highly preferred. Olive oil is a golden color and changes slightly due to whether it is extra virgin, or first cold pressed. The flavor of olive oil depends on how it was processed. Lower quality oils will taste mild, while high quality olive oils will have a robust flavor that is green, or may have a spicy quality. Extra virgin and first cold pressed or preferred. Olive oil lends a depth of flavor to any savory dish.
Parmesan, also called Parmigiano-Reggiano is a type of aged cow's milk cheese. Parmigiano-Reggiano must be made in Italy and is the authentic real deal. Parmesan is extremely similar, but made outside of Italy and may use slightly different methods, depending on the maker and brand. Parmesan or Parmigiano-Reggiano is aged for an average of two years and comes in a wheel shape that is cut into smaller wedges. It has a golden color and a texture than is hard and grainy. The flavor is intense, salty and extremely umami. It perks up many savory food items.
Capers are a bud that grow on a bush that is picked before it flowers. They are tiny and an earthy green tone with a round, or fat oval body that can get up to 7mm in size. Their skin is smooth, or with soft lines. The texture is semi-soft with a very briny, piquant taste and a hint of lemon. Capers are often sold in saltwater brine, though they are tastiest when dry-packed in sea salt. These tiny buds add tremendous flavor to seafood and pasta dishes and, are versatile across a range of cuisines.
Garlic is used in cuisines around the world and is extremely popular for its depth of flavor. The garlic bulb forms underneath the soil and is harvested once it reaches maturity. The bulb typically has thin, dry, white and flaky skin, surrounding the individual cloves. Often there are 10-12 cloves to a bulb/head of garlic. The cloves are cream colored with a strong smell and flavor that is spicy and sharp. Garlic takes on a nutty flavor in addition, when cooked. It is used in countless dishes, sauces, breads and more.
Basil is a leafy and aromatic herb that grows in warm climates. There are over one hundred varieties, though the most common Genovese variety of basil produces thin green leaves, in a tapered oval shape. The leaves taste bright, peppery and almost minty; the smell is the same. Basil lends a spicy sweet and herbal flavor to any dish.
Salt is a mineral composed mostly of sodium chloride. It is the main flavoring used in food and is naturally occurring in certain foods, such as cheese, beets, meat and celery, plus many others. Salt is white and has finer granules than sugar. Many commercial salts include iodide, while others exclude it. Most salts are white, while some are naturally pale pink with minerals. Salt brings out the flavor of something and can create a tangy mouthfeel, if used in excess.
Anchovies are a classification of small, oily salt-water fish of the Engraulidae family. Variations of this fish are used around the world. A common method for preserving anchovies is to gut them and brine them, then pack them in oil to be sold. Vinegar is another method used for preserving anchovies. Though less common, these little fish are also prepared raw with no preserving and have a much milder fishy taste, yet pack a ton of flavor.
The peppercorn plant grows in tropical climate and produces tiny black fruit. The fruit is dried and become hard. At this point it is ground into a textured powder comprised of black and grey dots. It has a flavor that is spicy, pungent and sharp. Pepper is an extremely popular spice, especially in Western cuisines and lends a gentle heat to dishes. There are different varieties of black pepper and the flavor changes subtly because of this.
