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The Cook Up with Adam Liaw
series • cooking
PG
series • cooking
PG
It's a bit of a mystery, but that hominids (and humans in particular) developed a taste for the sweet-sour combination through the consumption of rotten fruit. The right balance of sweet and sour in the fruit indicated that it was full of beneficial yeasts and lactic bacteria that could increase the chances of survival. The wrong balance indicated the fruit was dominated by dangerous filamentous fungi.
'Sour' is really just a rough guide to a food's low pH or acidity level. It can also indicate that a food is high in vitamin C, a nutrient our ancestors stopped manufacturing approximately 60 to 70 million years back. So, eating sour foods can increase the acidity and vitamin C levels of the food we eat.
But sour isn't for everyone, which is where sweet comes over to play. It balances the tart sourness of food and is even fundamental in indicating that beneficial fermentation is taking place.
Enough with the science, because we all know that getting juuust the right balance of sweet and sour is an art form. Everyone tastes sour flavours differently, so to arrive at an appealing balance between the two you need to taste, taste and taste again.
Of course, it's helpful when a top recipe gives you a measured jumping-off point. To accurately hit your sourly sweet or sweetly sour spot, jump off from here.
Suwisa Phoonsang is a big believer in singing while cooking curries. Credit: Darcy Starr
Credit: Lottie Hedley, The Great Australian Baking Book
Credit: Jiwon Kim
Credit: Jiwon Kim
Tamarind broth with beef and water spinach Credit: Luke Nguyen's Food Trail
Credit: Yasmin Newman
Credit: Jiwon Kim
Sweet and sour sardines (Sicilian sarde a saor). Credit: Chris Chen
Credit: Brett Stevens
Credit: Adam Liaw
