Assignment 3: Sensory Evaluation

Hi people! Today we will extend our culinary horizons as this week is all about trying something I’ve never eaten before. And this shall take place with the Mushroom Galaxy Burger with a side of handcut fries and ketchup from Copper Branch that cost me $13.73.

In case you're interested, Copper Branch is a retail eatery founded in 2014 in Montreal with franchises in both Canada and the USA (Fournier, 2020) selling 100% plant-based (ie vegan) food items such as burgers, sandwiches, power bowls and smoothies (Copper Branch, n.d.).

The burger's ingredients are: hamburger buns, Portobello mushroom, zucchini, caramelized onions, vegan cheese, lettuce and aïoli sauce.

Taste Evaluation

The taste that came across the most was that of goat cheese, which I found sickening, as I hate cheese in general. It is only when looking at Copper Branch's website to find out the list of ingredients of the burger that I discovered it was actually vegan cheese; so I'll actually hand it to them that they did a good job of making this plant-based product taste like actual goat cheese.

The main issue for me was the fact there were too many different flavours that didn’t go together: the goat cheese overpowered everything, the mushroom was bland, the caramelized onions gave both a sweet and bitter taste. The burger was savoury and definitely not too salty. I don't even think the aïoli had a particular taste, although it did add some creaminess to the burger.

I know all mushrooms but especially the Portobello kind have a strong umami flavour, however I could not discern anything special here.

All in all, while I was expecting the Portobello mushroom would be the star of the dish, the experience I got was that of the vegan cheese accaparating all the attention while a motley crew of different ingredients were fighting for airtime.

Sensory Evaluation

First of all, the visual appeal itself was not great: due to using soft buns, the burger looked like your average McDonalds burger, and quite diminitive in nature too.

Then, when smelling it, what stood out the most was the smell of caramelized onions.

The most that can be said about the burger concerns the texture. The zucchini and lettuce added some crunchiness to it; this was diminished a bit, however, by the fact that it seemed the burger had been heated through steaming. In any case, the lettuce was partially cooked, and being a watery ingredient, did not pack much of a crunch. 

The weirdest charecteristic however was the texture of the mushroom: it was fibrous and tough, meaning you had to chew on it several times before finally being able to bite it off with your teeth. So what ends up happening is that you take a bite of your burger but have that slice of mushroom still intact, which basically destroys the layering of the burger. That does not make a lot of sense to me. Additionally, if Portobello mushrooms are always that tough in nature, then having them in a burger would not be a good choice when eating in polite company. The mushroom was also watery, probably due to the same steaming reaction that cooked the lettuce leaf.

Finally, as the entire burger was kinda mushy, no sound was being producing when eating it.

Similarity to other flavours

I found the flavour profile of the burger similar to that of goat cheese tartlets we had made in Bakery class. I was initially wondering what that unpleasant finishing taste of the burger was and made the link between the dressing of the burger and the tartlets. This is not surprising, as the tartlets’ main ingredients were goat cheese and caramelized onions. I also came to become sickened by the tartlets quickly after tasting them due to their goat cheese content, which I think I've made clear in this post I don't like!

How is this food unique?

I am aware that using Portobello mushrooms instead of beef pattties is an ingenious and customary way of creating a worthy vegetarian burger due to their umami taste and their meaty consistency. Being dark brown in colour, they could pass as patties if cut in thick slices too. Overall, this food is unique because it attempts to create a valid vegetarian substitution for an iconic North American staple.

Reflection Time

I learned that clearly I am not a fan of goat cheese, even if said goat cheese is plant-based. Most importantly, I have never consciously analyzed a food with such detail; if you asked me to try something, my reply would generally be that it's good or bad. So it's interesting to know that when you become cognizant of what you eat there are many factors at play, not just taste and visual appeal but also texture and even the sound the food makes when you eat it.

I did not enjoy this burger due to the overpowering taste of goat cheese and the difficulty to eat it as a result of the toughness of the mushroom. Moreover, the fries were disappointing as they were unevenly cooked and mushy, and like the burger, seemed to have been steamed when reheated.

This is not to say I wouldn't eat this dish again: while my first choice would certainly be a traditional beef burger, I think a mushroom burger could be tasty if the mushroom were to be grilled on a barbecue, "real" bread were used instead of soft sweet buns and there were a minimal amount of condiment to flavour it.

There are certainly flavours that I prefer over others: for instance, I like salty, sweet and spicy foods but certainly do not like bitter and acid ones as much. I think cooking is all about a balance that should be achieved and if you use quality ingredients, you'd better let them shine rather than smothering them under several layers of sauce. Also, for me oversalting food just ruins it.

This experience has opened the door for me to start analyzing food I get to taste using specific criteria that encompass all tastes and senses. It has also  showed there should be cohesion in a dish and that adding more flavours is not necessarily better.

On another note, I think this experience demonstrated that takeout food simply cannot compare with food you are served when dining in a restaurant: even if I only had to walk for a few minutes between Copper Branch and my home, what I got when I opened my takeout box was a mushy lukewarm burger soaking its own steam.

Fun fact: white mushrooms and Portobello mushrooms are the same thing! They both are specimens of what is called agaricus bisporus. However, this mushroom is given different names depending on the level of maturity it is harvested at, Portobello being the most mature stage (Kuo, 2018).

In addition, it is preferable to cook all mushrooms instead of eating them raw as they contain a carcinogenic compound named hydrazine that is destroyed during cooking (Vegetarian Times Editors, 2013).

We will (finally) have a well-deserved Intersession Week at GBC where I’ll be able to do all the things I’ve been wanting to do since I got here but never could. This means the next post won’t be before a few weeks; but fear not, I’ll come back soon enough with a brand new post in the height of summer in July.

Until then, stay crispy!

Alex

Question of the week

Which of the following statements on mushrooms are true?

a) The largest living organism in the world is a network of mushrooms

b) You can dye textiles with mushrooms

c) Lightning increases the amount of mushrooms in an area

d) Before trees and plants, the surface of the Earth used to be covered by giant mushrooms

Answer to last week's question

You were right if you thought the photo showed a Tanzanian Kiburu Soup. This soup made by the Chagga tribe living at the foot of Mount Kilimandjaro consists of coffee, banana and yes, dirt, which apparently adds a salty and earthly flavour to it (talk about seasoning!) (Campbell Soup Company, 2018).

References

Campbell Soup Company. (2018, February 26). World’s Weirdest Soups. https://www.campbellsoup.co.uk/blog/worlds-weirdest-soups/

Copper Branch. (n.d.). Our Menu. https://eatcopperbranch.com/menu/

Fournier, M.-E. (2020, November 12). Copper Branch dans la tourmente. La Presse. https://www.lapresse.ca/affaires/entreprises/2020-11-12/copper-branch-dans-la-tourmente.php

Kuo, M. (2018, March). Agaricus bisporus. MushroomExpert.Com. https://www.mushroomexpert.com/agaricus_bisporus.html

Vegetarian Times Editors. (2013, October 29). 4 Plant Foods You Should Cook Before Eating. VegetarianTimes. https://www.vegetariantimes.com/guides/4-plant-foods-you-should-cook-before-eating/