History of food flavors

Flavorings are cosmetic additives that are used in processed food and drink products.

The Egyptians have been known to use food colors, seasonings, spices, flavors, etc. and all these objects were regarded so invaluable so as to serve as items of trade and, at times, reason for waging war. Simple methods for the distillation and extraction of essential oils and resins were already known in pre-Christian times and subsequently elaborated by the Arabs.

In the 11th century, the physician Avicenna figures out that oils can be distilled in much the same way alcohol is, by steaming plants, which extracts the oil, and then condensing the steam back into liquid.

In the medieval age, mostly monks were the pioneers in the art of capturing natural essences and transforming them into substances capable of flavoring food.

In the second half of the 16th century essential oils began to be widely produced and used predominantly by the pharmacists, which became a factor in the flavor industry only during 19th century.

Nicholas-Theodore Gobley isolates vanillin, the organic compound mainly responsible for vanilla’s flavor, from vanilla beans. It’s the first time anyone has managed to extract a flavor compound from the ingredient itself, a major development in the science of flavor.

The discovery paves the way, in 1874, the pharmacist and chemist Ferdinand Tiemann (1848–1899) having succeeded in the synthesis of vanillin from the bark of a pine tree, and he is considered to be the father of Geschmackstoff-Chemie (flavor chemistry).

Tiemann, together with Paul Krüger (1859–1916) and then with Friedrich-Wilhelm Semmler (1860–1931), developed a method to obtain with a good yield Veilchenduft (violet scent); they condensed citral with di-methyl-ketone (acetone) thus generating an intermediate which upon exposure to an acidic environment cyclizes to ionone.

Known as the Reimer-Tiemann reaction, this led to the formation of the Haarmann & Reimer Company, a corporate predecessor of the flavor powerhouse now known as Symrise.
History of food flavors

Japanese ramen in history

Although there are as many types of ramen as there are ramen chefs, the most basic components of a bowl are the noodles, the stock and the flavoring.

Ramen began life in Japan as a cheap, scrumptious and filling food from China. Although a precise point of origin is elusive, the introduction of ramen to Japan can be traced to the 1880s, when Chinese migrants from the Guangdong region began working as cooks at restaurants catering to foreigners in bustling port city of Yokohama.

Ramen typically comes with one of four flavors of broth: soy sauce, miso, salt or tonkotsu; it is commonly garnished with chopped scallions, menma, seaweed and sliced pork or hardboiled egg. The Chinese-style ramen noodles of Japan are more elastic and hence chewier than the traditional Japanese wheat noodles.

In this early phase Chinese cooks served their noodles soup and other dishes primarily to other workers and students from their own country.

Beginning in the 1910s, however, Japanese restaurants employing Chinese chefs transformed the dish into a hearty lunch food containing ingredients previously unused in the Chinese version of the noodle soup, such as roasted pork, soy sauce, and pickled bamboo shoots.

In 1958, Momofuku Ando invented instant ramen which was sold in little blocks wrapped in colorful plastic packaging. They were made by frying cooked noodles briefly at a high heat, so they could later be rehydrated with hot water.
Japanese ramen in history