Rich dishes are ones that contain large amounts of umami flavors in the form of meat, and beans as well, coupled with sauces rich in fat, umami, and burnt flavors. A more elegant example than my sausage and beans: roast beef with mushroom demi-glacé. A dish like that virtually cries out for a palate cleanser.
Rebecca Franklin, French Food Expert at aboutfood.com, has a page about traditional French palate cleansers. Chief among them is a sorbet. She lists Apple and Calvados Sorbet, Lemon Sorbet, Lime Sorbet, and Mint Sorbet as typical.
Why do these sorbets work as palate cleansers?
The characteristic receptors activated by a rich dish like the roast beef are all warm and hot: TRPM5 by the umami flavors, and TRPM3 and TRPV1 as well as TRPM5 by ingredients in the sauce—note that the fat receptor CD36 that I mentioned in a previous post (MONDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 2016) also "talks" to the warm receptor TRPM5. Net effect: a mouth that is flooded with warm and hot, which can feel rich and heavy.
When you activate cold receptors you turn off warm and hot receptors: that is exactly what these sorbets do. Not only are they physically cold, they contain ingredients that activate the cool and cold receptors, TRPM8 and TRPA1. Take a spoonful of sorbet, and you will cool down and feel clean and refreshed.
Curiously, these flavors are quick-on/quick-off on their receptors, by which I mean that their effect is immediate, and there is little to no after-taste, because they leave their receptors quickly.
Another beneficial effect: activation of these cool/cold receptors sends a "wake-up" message to the brain, so you will feel more alert and less sluggish.
As you go beyond the sorbets in Rebecca Franklin's list of palate cleansers, you will find that most of the other foods and beverages mentioned act on the cool/cold receptors—the exception is black tea...though you could have it iced!
But I would prefer a green tea as a palate cleanser, especially cold with lemon myrtle—lemon myrtle gives a deliciously lemony flavor without sourness. Friends of Pairteas at The Tea Spot have a blend for cold tea, consisting of green tea, green rooibos, and lemon myrtle, called "Keep Fit Organic," that's a big hit in my region.
As Rebecca Franklin points out: "When choosing a palate cleanser, look for something with a clean, bright flavor that leaves little or no aftertaste." That's exactly what activation of the cool/cold receptors does!
Here's a summer melon and lavender sorbet, by Chef Jeff Fisher of Crust in Cleveland Ohio, courtesy of Wikipedia. I feel refreshed just looking at this image!
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