Appearance, based on food integrity and freshness. A food may be: lacking, acceptable, appealing.
Presentation, based on colour harmony and elegance. A food may be: lacking, acceptable, appealing.
Olfactory analysis
Olfactory frankness, typical aroma of each food. A food may be: lacking, acceptable, appealing.
Olfactory harmony, proportionate and balanced melting of odorous nuances. A food may be: lacking, acceptable, appealing.
Olfactory intensity, streght of the aroma notes perceived at the same time. A food may be: lacking, acceptable, appealing.
Olfactory quality, the synthesis relating to olfactory frankness, harmony, intensity, and also to finesse, elegance and tipicity. A food may be: lacking, acceptable, appealing.
Olfactory-taste analysis
Hardnesses
- Sapidity, given by the presence of salt in the food. A food may be: lacking, scarcely sapid, quite sapid, sapid, very sapid.
- Bitter tendency, perception of a slightly bitter taste, within the borders of pleasure. It can be intrinsic or caused by some cooking methods (e.g. grilling, griddling and char-grilling produce the so called Maillard reaction). Other examples: vegetables, blue cheese. A food may be: lacking, scarcely bitter, quite bitter, bitter, very bitter.
- Acid tendency, perception of a slight acidity, within the borders of pleasure. Examples: vegetables, fruit, fermented cured meats. A food may be: lacking, scarcely acid, quite acid, acid, very acid.
Softnesses
- Fatness, tactile perception of pastiness in the mouth and patina on the tongue (given by solid fats). Examples: cheese, meat, cured meats, fish, eggs. A food may be: lacking, scarcely fat, quite fat, fat, very fat.
- Greasiness, tactile perception of a slicking condition in the mouth (caused by fluid fats). Examples: fluid dressings and sauces. A food may be: lacking, scarcely greasy, quite greasy, greasy, very greasy.
- Succulence, perception caused by the presence of liquids in the mouth. It can be: intrinsic (presence of liquids in the food, e.g. rare beef steak), added (presence of liquids in the cooking process, e.g. stewed veal), induced (induced production of saliva in the mouth, e.g. chocolate and jam cake). A food may be: lacking, scarsely juicy, quite juicy, juicy. very juicy.
Sweetness, sweet perception caused by the presence of sugar or other sweeteners in the food. Examples: any kind of sweet dessert. A sweet or dessert may be: lacking, scarcely sweet, quite sweet, sweet, very sweet.
Sweet tendency, slight perception of sweet, typical of any kind of food, except for sweets. Examples: vegetables, legumes, cereals and by-products, meat, fish, cheese, cured meats, eggs. A food may be: lacking, scarcely sweet-tending, quite sweet -tending, sweet-tending, very sweet-tending.
Spiciness, given by the presence of spices in the dish. It differs from bite (perception of causticity). Examples: cured meats, cheese, meat, vegetables. A food may be: lacking, scarcely spicy, quite spicy, spicy, very spicy.
Aroma, typical taste of each food. A food may be: lacking, scarcely aromatic, quite aromatic, aromatic, very aromatic.
Taste-olfactory persistence, taste duration in the mouth. A food may be: lacking, scarcely persistent, quite persistent, persistent, very persistent.
Final examination
Balance, expecially between softnesses and hardnesses. A food may be: scarcely balanced, quite balanced, balanced.
Structure, perception of major or minor taste complexity. A food may be: scarcely structured, quite structured, structured.
Harmony, synthesis of the results of the three tasting stages, depending on two parameters: coherence and qualitative level. A food may be: scarcely harmonious, quite harmoniuos, harmonious.