by Sandy Hemphill

Created on: March 19, 2008   Last Updated: May 15, 2008

Flavor, freshness, and familiarity are three reasons why cooking with larder ingredients is more nutritious than using artificial flavor enhancers. Culinary excursions can be a lot of fun but most of us would rather not conquer brave, new worlds at every meal.

Fruits and vegetables that have been allowed to reach their wholesome peak of freshness on the vine taste better than their counterparts that have been picked so early that they can still retain some semblance of natural shape after they've been shipped halfway around the world, sprayed with chemicals to enhance color, and sat in warehouses at every port along the way.

These well-traveled foods never get the chance to develop as nature intended. Their flavor is usually mild, at best, and often a little off. Their texture suffers even more and their nutritional value is hardly worth considering.

Freshness is an important word in foodservice these days. Public demand for foods that are additive free and safe from contaminants, chemicals, and other industrialized handling procedures is growing rapidly. Foods of all kinds lose nutritional value with handling and over time. The more a food is processed and the longer it sits on a shelf in a box, bag, can, jar, or other container, the more nutrients are depleted, regardless of what additives are added in an effort to retain flavor and nutritional value.

Familiarity on the dinner table is another aspect of food that will keep people coming back for more. Modern cooking tools and appliances give chefs more freedom to create exotic dishes than ever before. These often sell for a while, until the novelty wears off.

Some of the most exotic dishes served up today feature skyscraper-high piles of food held together with the utmost care. They often require strange ingredients to pull off the look, and they often do so at the expense of flavor and nutrient value. And food that intimidates is never a pleasant experience.

Many of the foods available in today's commercial kitchens are entirely new to the culinary world. They are scientifically formulated powders, elixirs, syrups, and gels that shine and sparkle in colors never found in nature. Catering food is particularly notorious for quick and easy preparation that travels well. Even when such an order is filled, it is often done without the flavor and nutritional value a simpler menu of real foods would provide.

The foodservice industry has enjoyed massive growth over the last few decades in ready meals and frozen foods. In the beginning, these types of foods relied on the latest technological advances to make them work. They were, after all, breakthrough products the likes of which had never been seen before. Ease and convenience were much more important than health and flavor.

Over time, however, the general public has come to expect higher quality from foods everywhere - ready meals, frozen foods, in restaurants, and at home. As a result, some manufacturers of these prepared items have developed some truly outstanding prepared foods that utilize the freshest and most nutritious ingredients available, with no need for artificial flavor enhancers. And current food technologies help, too.

It's these manufacturers of gourmet-style food products who've discovered another reason why cooking with larder ingredients is more desirable than using artificial flavor enhancers. It sells.

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