and texture, and the challenge of cooking
meat well. These changes are summarized in
the box on p. 152.
Heat and Meat Flavor
Raw meat is tasty rather than flavorful. It
provides salts, savory amino acids, and a
slight acidity to the tongue, but offers little in
the way of aroma. Cooking intensifies the
taste of meat and creates its aroma. Simple
physical damage to the muscle fibers causes
them to release more of their fluids and
therefore more stimulating substances for the
tongue. This fluid release is at its maximum
when meat is only lightly cooked, or done
“rare.” As the temperature increases and the
meat dries out, physical change gives way to
chemical change, and to the development of
aroma as cell molecules break apart and
recombine with each other to form new
molecules that not only smell meaty, but also