What does turmeric taste like?
Turmeric has a tame smoky, mesquite woody flavor that’s actually more subtle than the color it comes in as shocking pumpkin orange. But unlike processed foods that are bright orange in color, turmeric is a superfood and anti-inflammatory healthy add-on.
Its curcumin properties are in a category league of its own. Research has shown its anti-inflammatory benefits and why the turmeric spice is making waves in healthy eating. And why it’s worth adding to your spices and grocery list.
What does turmeric taste like besides smoky?
Your tongue is naturally divided into taste sections where bitter is at the back and center of your tongue.
So you’ll notice you’ll get a stronger and different turmeric taste experience relative to your taste buds, if you add the turmeric bite to the back vs the front of your tongue. For most meals and snacks, we usually activate tastes more in the sweet front zones or salty and sour sides that house your other receptors.
The turmeric taste can be fairly strong varying based on your palate and preferences, and depending on who you ask. But surprisingly, turmeric doesn’t have an overpowering taste or scent for many of us.
And that’s partly because it’s usually ground, powdery fine similar to a texture like cocoa. When you wave the turmeric container near your nose, the scent doesn’t punch you in the face like say a clove wake-up call or black pepper that’ll get possibly get you to sneeze.
And like other Indian spices, there’s a distinct quality to the turmeric taste that is undeniably unique to turmeric. You would never mistaken turmeric for cumin or curry.
Turmeric’s Taste and Profile Description
Taste: smoky, somewhat earthy, mesquite, savory, fresh, slightly pungent and some taste ginger notes
Smell: soft smoky scent that takes a second to catch on in your olfactory senses
Texture: powdery dry texture
Other descriptions: astringent, bright orange color
Turmeric’s soft texture makes it good to dash on top of a meal or at the end like salt and pepper to taste.
You can add turmeric to a meat rub to add flavor, but because of the finely small soft texture, turmeric will adhere well to moisture or oil after it has made contact.
So if you add to your chicken or turkey, don’t expect to rub off excess.
And if you’re eating outside and adding turmeric, watch out for the wind because it can carry your turmeric dusting powder along with it!
When you put turmeric side by side next to other dry flavor enhancers like pepper or a spice blend like Old Bay, you’ll see the texture difference. Since those are coarser, when you shake those up in their containers, you’ll here a rattle sound. With turmeric, you won’t hear a peep.
And If you haven’t yet tried turmeric and are still wondering, “what does turmeric taste like?”, you’re missing out. You should try so that you can at least say you tried the spice. And give it a try with some of your regular meals.
What does turmeric taste like with other foods?
With its smoky flavor, turmeric pairs well with any food that is savory, salty or spicy.
For example: eggs, potatoes, and rice are great. As long as you don’t add turmeric to sweet foods, the enhancing flavor will be a favorable experience unless you just don’t like the taste of turmeric. A sweeter corn would work, but that’s because corn isn’t very sugary.
Its bright orange color can be a dish pop, and if you want to make a colorful meal, then turmeric can be one of your star ingredients. You can even make turmeric popcorn that’s a super healthy snack.
Turmeric actually enhances the flavors of other savory profiles.You can always tone it down with other spices. Because turmeric has the subtle quality to be the shadow enhancer for other stronger herbs like basil or cilantro. And spices like crushed red pepper flakes or cayenne pepper.
One of the best tasting pairs with turmeric is with tofu in a tofu scramble where you can add all your healthy nutrient flavors like spinach, onions, and seeds if you like.. Another great idea is a tofu soup when the weather cools and the turmeric warms up in the soup that brings out the flavor profile.
Adding to Healthy Turmeric Tastes
And actually, turmeric is healthy activated when paired with black pepper. So is black pepper with cardamom that’s a whole ‘nother story that I’ve spiced up in my life with other spices and a new lifestyle habit I’ve incorporated.
Other considerations:
Consider organic turmeric as pesticides aren’t used. You can also buy turmeric raw.
Ayurvedic turmeric benefits
Turmeric is a great source of glutathione, an antioxidant that has been linked to reducing oxidative stress (helping to protect against certain types of cancer) and improving insulin resistance.
Turmeric is great for Kapha balancing, as it’s drying and a bit pungent.
Be careful to not stain your first experience. If you accidentally spill powder on a clean surface, you can add it to your water and make a flavored water with health benefits. Since it’s drying on the tongue palate, you may want to drink more water anyway. And add more turmeric… and then you’ll know what turmeric tastes like as a drink.
One thing’s for sure… once you try turmeric, you’ll never forget and you’ll never ask, what does turmeric taste like? again because it’s so memorable. And even if you forget, your body won’t.
And one great way to smoky up your life is turmeric on popcorn or savory dishes.
