Ok, gang, here’s the FASS finale. So far we’ve added salt and acid to our stock, which already has some natural sweetness from the juice of the vegetables. What’s missing? Well, FASS stands for fat, acid, salt, and sweet, so clearly fat is the only member of the band that hasn’t been heard from yet. Now is the time for its’ solo. Most people make soup using fat-free vegetable stock. This means that the rest of the soup’s ingredients must contain some fat to round out the dish.


Here’s how the fat part of the FASS lesson plays out. For many classes I choose to make Caramelized Onion Soup (see the recipe) with the Magic Mineral Broth as stock. I use this combination because it’s relatively simple, extremely tasty, and helps me demonstrate FASS in action. In a separate saucepan we place a coating of extra virgin olive oil. That’s the fat. Then we add onions and a pinch of salt. Again, the salt can’t be tasted but it breaks down the onion, releasing more of its juice. After the onions are golden brown, we pour a cup of stock over the onions, reduce the contents to seal in the flavor, and then pour in the rest of the stock.

Invariably in class, someone asks the question I’ve been waiting for: “I see how we intentionally added fat, but where did we add sweetness?”
 
I put a spoon in their hand and point them to the pot.
 
Taste. Shock. “I can’t believe onion soup could taste so sweet!” is the inevitable response. I’ve tricked them a bit by keeping them away from the onions while they cooked, but only to make the point that many vegetables, even onions, when allowed to simmer properly, produce a luscious sweet juice.
 


So now we’re almost there. Once again, we go over what’s in the soup from a FASS viewpoint. We have our fat, the olive oil. We’ve added sea salt along the way to our onions. Those onions, in turn, released sweet juice.
 “What’s missing?” I ask. 
Everyone points to the lemon. We need a little acid. Remember, as a stock evolves, so does the taste. FASS is your culinary gyroscope to keep it the flavors in balance, meaning you’re always allowed
to add one of the four elements as needed. In this case, a little of the lemon’s acids will bring just the right amount of brightness to complete the dish.

Shpritz.


Taste.

Involuntary moans. Incomplete sentences. “Oh! Wow!”


Ladies and gentlemen, we have reached Yum!
 And that’s what FASS is all about; a great tool to have at your disposal when you decide it’s time to take off on your own culinary wanderings, a global positioning satellite for your taste buds. Without FASS, a given meal may only have seventy-five percent of its potential taste. Tolerable? Yes. Desirable? Nooooo. Why settle for mediocrity when you can achieve delicious! Optimizing a dish’s taste with FASS is what true nourishment is all about. It turns a plate of ordinary food into a nutritious gift of love and health. And isn’t that the reason we’re in the kitchen in the first place?

Did you give FASS a shot? Whaddya think? Share your thoughts in the comments section…