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Charles Perry
 
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Dick Adams wrote:
>
> I am not sure that I am ready to agree that "complex" is a flavor.
>

No, but , in context, it is a perfectly good descriptor of the
kind of flavors desirable in bread that go beyond the simple
taste of "sour"

The simple or primary tastes provided by the tounge are salty,
sour, sweet, bitter and with some dissent, meaty and hot (spicy
hot). The other senstions of taste are provided by the nose
which adds the aromatic dimensions to the primary tastes. So a
complex flavor can be a combination of the primary tastes or
contain aromatic flavors in addtion to a primary or combination
of primary tastes.

My opinion is that in the discussion of sourdough bread, the
focus is all to often on the single taste of sour rather than the
complex combination of flavor that seperates great bread from
mere sustanence. Among the complex bread flavors you can discern
nutty, wheaty, yeasty, caramel, and others all mellowed by a
taste sensation of richness that has often nothing to do with any
fat in the recipe. These minor flavors, minor in the sense that
they are not amonng the primary tastes such as salt..., are more
important than how sour a loaf may be.

My observation is that in sourdough or commercial yeast
procedures, the minor flavors are enhanced when the dough is
developed over a longer period of time at a slower pace. In other
words, the flour is wet longer. In sourdough, the primary flavor
of sour is enhanced when the process is extended. By extended,
here I mean in the case of gluten, further along in the process
of creation to eventual destruction by the results of sourdough
fermentation. This may or may not involve longer periods of
time.

It is certainly at least a plausable idea that different
sourdough cultures might by way of producing different , or
different ratios, of metabolic products, produce minor flavors
that differ in kind or intensity. Complexity, if you will.

Regards,

Charles
--
Charles Perry
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