cooking will moderate the pungency of these
foods. By contrast, the peppers and ginger
stockpile their defenses ahead of time, and
cooking doesn’t reduce their pungency.
The nature and use of pungent ingredients
are described in greater detail in the next
several chapters, in entries on particular
vegetables and spices.
Aroma: Variety and Complexity The subject
of aroma is both daunting and endlessly
fascinating! Daunting because it involves
many hundreds of different chemicals and
sensations for which we don’t have a good
everyday vocabulary; fascinating because it
helps us perceive more, and find more to
enjoy, in the most familiar foods. There are
two basic facts to keep in mind when thinking
about the aroma of any food. First, the
distinctive aromas of particular foods are
created by specific volatile chemicals that are
characteristic of those foods. And second,