Eating is the simplest thing there is: we do it every day of our lives throughout our lives. Feeding ourselves is essential to carry out our vital functions and is a joy to the throat. We can go so far as to say that food is an integral part of our identity, our patriotism.
An old saying goes precisely, “Patriotism is the nostalgia for the food of our homeland,” and well, on closer inspection, he has a point. When we compete for the glory of our country we invariably end up extolling the cuisine of our home. Whether it is our region or our nation, it makes little difference: the underlying concept is the same.
But why is the taste so special?
Taste is one of the five senses through which we perceive the world around us. Its definition is quite simple: taste is the ability to distinguish flavors and know which foods and drinks we like or dislike.
Is that all? Well, no. Taste perception is not just limited to the mouth, but involves all five senses: smell, sight, touch and even … hearing. Had you ever thought about it? Had you ever noticed this? Well, let’s start settling this awareness-we’ll see it in detail later!
To understand taste and its relationship to the senses, it is first necessary to understand how our sensory system works. Molecular magnifying glass and go!
The sense of taste
Taste is one of the five human senses and allows us to perceive the flavors and taste sensations of the foods and drinks we ingest. The tongue is one of the main organs of taste and contains numerous taste receptors, called taste buds, which are able to perceive the five basic flavor categories: sweet, salty, sour, bitter and umami.
Umami, for those not familiar with it, is the latest flavor to make it onto the official list. This Japanese word means tasty, and the main culprit for this taste is an amino acid called glutamate: we find it in meats, broth, and aged cheese. Here, when we think of umami, we imagine that mix of enveloping flavors that these food categories have in common.
How do we perceive different flavors?
When a food or drink comes in contact with the taste buds, receptive cells on the surface of the taste buds send electrical signals to the brain through cranial nerves.
The brain interprets these signals and generates the taste sensation we perceive.
Okay, now reread the previous sentence and pay attention to it. That’s right: flavor does not exist except in our heads. It is not the individual molecules of the food we ingest that create it, nor even the simple sum of them. The taste of a food is given by our brain’s processing from information from our taste receptors and visual, olfactory, auditory and tactile information. Yes, flavor is entirely created by our brain and does not exist as such in the foods themselves.
For example, the flavor of chocolate does not exist in the chocolate itself, but is the result of a series of signals that the brain interprets as a specific flavor. These signs include the sweet and bitter flavors, its characteristic texture, and the intense aroma of chocolate. Does it ring a bell? Are you beginning to picture it, to “see” these concepts?
Good, because now we add an additional element: the brain is able to adapt our taste perceptions based on our experiences and expectations. For example, if we are used to eating spicy foods, our brains might interpret a less spicy food as bland or tasteless.
Understanding this process can help explain why taste perception can vary from person to person and why we can change our taste preferences with experience and exposure to different flavors. It is a great classic to reconsider certain foods, initially hated, and reevaluate them as good and, over time, delicious. This has happened to me with a lot of products: anchovies, olives, and … darn it, pig’s trotter!
Now that we have a context of how taste works, let’s analyze how the different senses come into play in “building” flavor!
The sense of smell and taste
Let’s start with him, the real protagonist, with a fundamental piece of information that will radically change the way we think about this topic: the tongue is NOT the sole organ of taste. Thesense of smell is actually the real protagonist. Let us take a moment to process this information. Does taste matter little? No, we must think, however, that taste and smell are closely related. They work hand in hand. But how does it happen? Why is the sense of smell so important?
When we eat, food releases odorous molecules that are detected by olfactory cells in the nasal and retronasal cavity. The sense of smell can recognize thousands of different odors, which means it can significantly influence our perception of taste.
Warning. We are not referring to those romantic moments when we smell the food, leaning over the plate and closing our eyes. Of course, this also contributes because smell gives us a clue, an expectation is created about the taste of what we are about to eat.
Here we are at the next stage: we have bitten the bite and are chewing. Just as a result of chewing, the aroma of food is released in the mouth and goes up through the nasal cavity, where odors are hooked by specific receptors and processed by the brain. This is why we often lose our sense of taste when we are congested: nasal congestion prevents food vapors from reaching our sense of smell.
The experiment!
Before starting the meal, have your diners smell some different ingredients such as herbs, spices, citrus fruits, etc. that were used in the preparation of the dishes. Then, during the meal, as they taste the food ask them to try to identify the ingredients they smelled earlier. This helps to better perceive the effect of retronasal olfaction and how impactful it is on flavor.
Sight and taste
Sight influences our perception of the world, of everything we experience–even taste. Sight has a significant influence on taste perception, as the visual presentation of food can suggest information about its taste, texture, and freshness. They derive from the experience we have built up throughout our lives, and just seeing the plate gives us an enormous amount of information about what we are about to eat.
The sight of a plate of penne pasta with a red sauce and topped with aged cheese might suggest a strong, enveloping flavor, while a plate of farfalle in white with diced fresh vegetables would make us imagine something more delicate and fresh.
Our eyes help us evaluate the appearance of food and tell, for example, whether it is fresh or rotten, sweet or bitter or … sour. For example, if we see a glass of lemon juice, we know that it will taste sour even before we taste it.
Another aspect to consider is the way food and dishes are arranged “scenically” on the plate. In fact, several studies have shown that the presentation of food can affect the perception of flavor even if the ingredients are the same and are cooked the same way.
The shape and size of foods can also influence the perception of flavor. For example, a citrus wedge may seem more sour if it is presented with the peel on, while a peeled and diced piece of fruit may seem sweeter and juicier.
Finally, the color of the food influences the prediction of flavor. A strawberry yogurt with a deep color seems sweeter and tastier than a yogurt with a lighter shade.
Sight is extremely important in the experience of food, and to understand how important it is, just do some tests–by subtraction.
The experiment!
There is fun to be had here, if one is willing to experiment. We can organize real “blind dinners” to test our diners! The results are always surprising: it is really hard to distinguish the flavors correctly without being able to see the dish on the plate.
Instructions for use:
– We cover our guests’ eyes with a blindfold or hands and make them eat a few different foods. We can start with basic ingredients such as an apple, a walnut or a cherry tomato.
– We ask them to guess what food they are eating just based on taste.
– Let’s debunk them and ask them to eat the same foods without covering their eyes.
– We ask people to notice whether their taste perception has changed when they can see what they are eating.
– We can then move on to do the same with the dinner courses, which will have much more intense and complex flavors, and see how they fare in identifying the different ingredients.
Tip: There are several Associations of the Blind that organize blind trails and dinners to help the citizenry empathize with the condition of blindness. These are intense and exciting experiences that I would recommend from my heart. You learn a lot of inspiring and enriching things.
Touch and taste
Touch can also influence taste perception. How?
The mouth and tongue are filled with tactile receptors that help us perceive the texture and consistency of foods, which in turn can affect our overall taste experience.
For example, a food that has a crunchy texture may increase the perception of a salty or sweet taste. A fried potato that is crisp and golden to the touch is perceived to taste better than a soft, flaky fried potato, even though the flavor is the same. Similarly, the creamy texture of a chocolate mousse can affect the perception of its flavor compared to a solid chocolate bar made with the same ingredients.
In addition, texture can affect the perception of the taste of food or drink, making the experience either pleasant or annoying.
For example, carbonated beverages may give a tingling or prickling sensation on the tongue that changes the taste to some extent. Ever tried drinking a carbonated coke and one forgotten in the refrigerator, opened, for a few days?
Or again, a slimy textured food such as porcini mushrooms or oysters annoy quite a few palates, to the point of making the food disgusting in some cases! For others, however, this same consistency is pleasing. There is a lot of subjectivity in flavor, but this is hardly a secret.
The temperature of foods can also affect the perception of flavor. Very cold or very hot foods alter the perception of flavors! For example, hot ice cream might be perceived as less pleasant than fresh ice cream straight out of the freezer. In addition, low temperatures make the flavors less intense.
The experiment!
Everything we cook can be eaten as is or-after changing the texture and temperature!
We can try it with a potato that we will cook in different ways: mashed, fried, made into a pan pie. We then eat the different versions paying attention precisely to touch, whether practiced with the hands or the tongue. Let’s note down the differences, take notice.
We can do the same thing by subjecting the experiment to a few guests and involving more processed foods, which we could, for example–blend! We ask participants to touch different foods and describe their texture, such as crunchy, soft, creamy, etc.
Next, we will ask them to taste the food and see if their taste perception changes according to the texture of the food.
Hearing and taste
Hearing can influence our taste perception during a meal in several ways. First, the sounds we hear while eating can affect our perception of the texture of food. For example, the sound of a crispy food such as potato chips may suggest that the food is crispier than it actually is.
In addition, hearing can affect our perception of taste through theMcGurk effect. This effect occurs when what we see and what we hear do not match. For example, if we are eating a sweet food but hear a sound that suggests the food is salty, our taste perception may be affected by the perception of the sound.
Finally, sound can also influence our perception of taste through theassociation of specific sounds with certain foods. For example, the sound of soda being poured into a glass may suggest the taste of the drink, even if we have not yet tasted it.
The experiment!
- During the meal, ask the participant to close their eyes and focus on the sounds they hear as they chew their food. Ask them to describe sounds and how they affect their perception of taste.
- We have people listen to a few different sounds, such as music, the sound of a meat grinder or a sound of nature, while they eat a meal. We ask them to describe whether the sound affected their perception of taste in a positive or negative way.
Conclusions
In short, taste is one of the most complex sensory experiences one can have. It is influenced by a wide range of factors, including taste perception through the tongue and mouth, nasal and retronasal smell, sight, and touch. But let’s not forget that even our life experience, memories and emotions carry a lot of weight.
Understanding how all these elements work together to create the taste experience allows us to appreciate our meals more fully and develop a greater awareness of what we eat.
What can I tell you, eating is not only about satisfying our appetite, but also about exploring our feelings, emotions and memories through the senses.
Happy Appetite, then!
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