What is Tofu Spread?
Tofu spread, also called tofu cream cheese is a soy spread made from soft tofu that mimics the smooth and thick, creamy consistency of cream cheese. It is flavored with savory spices and seasonings. The color is off white and tastes mild, salty and slightly nutty with a hint of tanginess.
What does Tofu Spread 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.
Ingredients
Tofu is also known as bean curd and is a product made by coagulating soy milk and pressing it into blocks. These blocks vary from silky soft, to firm and semi-dense. Tofu is white or off white. Soft tofu has a high water content and falls apart easily, while firmer tofu can look almost grainy with a mouthfeel that is firm and lacking in graininess. Because the flavor of tofu is bland and mild it is an excellent protein to heavily season as it acts like a sponge and absorbs flavor. Tofu is used in many East and Southeast Asian dishes.
Mayonnaise is a cream colored condiment and thick sauce, or spread. Mayonnaise is made by slowly adding oil to a mixture of raw egg, vinegar and seasonings, until it thickens. This is done by continuously whisking. The flavor is mild, tangy and a bit salty with a comforting quality from the creamy texture. Mayonnaise is a multi-use ingredient for sauces, cold meat salads, sandwiches and more.
Celery is a light green vegetable with tall, thin fibrous stalks and green leaves at their tips. They are extremely juicy and comprised of 90% water. They grow in clusters, sharing a base with about eight or nine ribbed stalks. The texture is crunchy, juicy and has a refreshing flavor that is light, sweet and vegetal. Celery can be eaten raw or cooked into soups and other dishes.
The onion is a bulb vegetable, meaning its bulb and not its leaves are eaten. Onions come in many varieties, including white, yellow and red. Shallots are small and mild onions. Vidalias are sweet, while red onions are strong and sharp. The onion is usually round and has a thin dry skin around its juicy layers. This skin depends in the color of the onion, as does the flesh. The flesh, or body of the onion is made of multiple round layers, that get smaller towards the center. The flavor of onions are sharp and sweet when raw, with an astringent taste. When cooked, these flavors mellow and the sweetness emerges. Onion are a very common flavoring and ingredient for many savory dishes.
Yeast is a single celled organism used in food and beverage production. It both naturally occurs and is added in to certain foods such as breads, beer and wine. Specific kinds of yeast are used to add depth of flavor to savory foods. Yeast is usually sold as tiny beige granules. It leavens bread, ferments beer and imparts a satisfying umami flavor.
Parsley is an aromatic herb with slender green stalks and sturdy, small green leaves. There are two common types of parsley, curly parsley and Italian flat leaf parsley. Italian parsley has a more robust flavor than curly parsley. Though each type tastes green, spicy and vegetal, with a hint of bitterness. Parsley is used as and herb to flavor dishes and as a garnish.
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.
Mustard is a yellow condiment and spread used for sandwiches, and as an ingredient for sauces and more. Mustard is made from the seeds of the mustard plant and either ground into powder or used whole. Mustard varies from bright yellow to a muted golden brown. The texture of yellow mustard, such as Dijon or American is smooth. Grainy mustard, made from the whole pinhead sized seed is brown. In general, mustard has a spicy, mildly hot and vinegary flavor. Some types are more tart and one dimensional, while other varieties have a range of tastes. Mustard is a refrigerated item and usually only a small amount is needed of this strongly flavored condiment.
Additives are added to food items in small quantities to improve the flavor, change the texture, enhance appearance, or preserve the item. Additives are both natural and artificial. Natural additives have been used for a long time, while many artificial ones were discovered in the 19th century. There are numerous artificial additives including soy lecithin, guar gum, ascorbic acid and sodium nitrite.
