Why is ginger a palate cleanser? - Big Questions - (Ep. 38)

Hi, I'm Craig. My favorite Spice Girl is Ginger Spice, and this is Mental Floss on YouTube

Today I'm going to answer Katie Doman's big question, why is ginger a palate cleanser

Let's get started. First, let's talk about palate cleansers in general, then we'll move on to ginger specifically

So, a palate cleanser is any food that's eaten mid-meal to remove the food residuals in the mouth from a dish

then the next dish can be eaten without previous flavors changing the new flavors. It's true that these food residuals can warp the taste of the next dish, often without us even noticing

What typically happens over the course of a meal is a decrease in perceived taste intensity

Basically, food seems more and more bland as the meal goes on, thanks to those food residuals

Also, I drink a lot of booze. So what's the most effective way to get rid of the residuals

Well, a palate cleanser needs to be relatively neutral tasting. Besides ginger, examples of palate cleansers include sorbet, bread, and citrus

Even water works just fine. In fact, most professional food tasters swear by a combination of crackers and water

I would say whiskey. Seriously, I drink a lot of booze. Sometimes the need for a palate cleanser is more obvious than a slow reduction in taste

For example often after eating a high food like steak or salami mouths feel oily almost as if they coated in something This has a name fatty mouthfeel also my nickname in high school And even if people aren consciously doing it they usually cleansing their palate with something like water or wine when this occurs

This explains why palate cleansers usually feel like they're drying out our mouths. They're able to break down the proteins in our saliva that cause that coated sensation

So now that y'all got a bunch of knowledge, let's jump back to the original question. Can I actually jump back

In Japanese cuisine, gari, aka pickled ginger, is often used as a palate cleanser

And the reason you often see it served with sushi is because you're supposed to eat it when you go from eating one type of fish to another

Not putting it directly on the sushi mark. That's what he did last time we went and had sushi

It's used as a palate cleanser in that culture because the ginger plant can be found in Asia

And historically, it was considered good for the stomach, so it makes sense that chefs would serve it alongside sushi

The reason it works as a palate cleanser is because of the vinegar that the ginger has been soaked into Piclet

Vinegar is acidic, so it's able to effectively remove those food residuals. It's not the ginger

It's the vinegar. That's interesting. This is a good channel. You learn stuff here. You should keep watching