Friday, July 08, 2011
In Search of References
by Kathleen Rutledge Edited Thursday, September 01, 2011
In our business, we spend a lot of time and thought on finding what we call "references". It's important that sensory panelists have examples of products available that illustrate the character of a product. For example, there is a big difference in the flavor of vanilla beans and the "artificial" flavor of vanillin. So we would provide the panelists with a sample of, say, marshmallow fluff to illustrate vanillin, and a bit of vanilla bean for the "real deal".
Looking for the right references is a challenge. Early on, the panel described a flavor that was reminiscent of fish aquariums. So, yes, I went to a local pet store with my quart jar and asked for a quart of aquarium water. No, I didn't ask the panelists to taste it, but Bingo, that was the aroma they used as a reference.
Panelists are by nature curious people and love to find their own solutions, often bringing in their own reference contributions. Once they found a curious "gouty" aroma that wasn't quite like goat cheese. One panelist had some old plastic flowers with the perfect goaty scent. We used those plastic flowers until the scent faded away.
By far, the most outrageous reference every contributed was from a panelist who lived in the country with a multitude of farm animals. The panel identified a flavor character that was described as a "degraded protein". Her contribution was a 2 inch callous that had come off of the knee of one of her horses that embodied the character, well, perfectly.
