Earlier this year, Popular Science had a nice little article on things that affect your sense of taste. The author (Amber Williams) highlighted 7 things that influence taste (besides smell and the actual taste of whatever you are eating or drinking):
The 15 Minute Fix: SENSES has an exercise called “Taste Comprehension.” I have included it below:
- Language
- Utensils
- Temperature
- Color
- Environment
- Expectations
- Memory
The 15 Minute Fix: SENSES has an exercise called “Taste Comprehension.” I have included it below:
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It struck me, after reading Ms. Williams article, that some of the external influences she describes could be woven into this exercise to broaden the range of our olfactory perception by getting more of the brain contributing to the perception and interpretation of particular tastes (and smells for that matter). For example, try tweaking the exercise so that you are tasting one food using three different types of utensils or at three different temperatures. Try drinking liquids out of different color cups or even use food coloring in relatively clear liquids. Use the same three tastes in subsequent sessions, but in different environments (city/country, indoor/outdoor, dry/damp, light/dark, etc.). Invoke different memories while tasting the same thing over multiple sessions - any difference in taste? Have a partner give creative names to things before you taste them.
There are no rules for this kind of experimentation. Play around with these external factors (throw smell in as well), trying to discern whether or not these seven things influence your perception of how something tastes. Some may work for you, some may not, but you’ll be pushing your brain to take in more information from multiple sources as part of the process of “tasting.” I would only suggest that if you want to maximize the benefit you get from taking this exercise to the next level, you get in the habit of carefully recording your perceptions of each and every thing you taste - both in an absolute sense and on a comparative basis.
Remember, our senses are part of a complicated web of input, information processing, and analysis systems. Developing a fully functioning sense of taste is not simply a matter of exercising your taste buds. The best way to get your sense of taste to thrive is to exercise the entire system that contributes to your understanding of taste. Although the sensory process is scientifically complex, you don’t need to be too concerned with it, because all you need to do is experiment and have fun tasting things.
Age well my friends….
There are no rules for this kind of experimentation. Play around with these external factors (throw smell in as well), trying to discern whether or not these seven things influence your perception of how something tastes. Some may work for you, some may not, but you’ll be pushing your brain to take in more information from multiple sources as part of the process of “tasting.” I would only suggest that if you want to maximize the benefit you get from taking this exercise to the next level, you get in the habit of carefully recording your perceptions of each and every thing you taste - both in an absolute sense and on a comparative basis.
Remember, our senses are part of a complicated web of input, information processing, and analysis systems. Developing a fully functioning sense of taste is not simply a matter of exercising your taste buds. The best way to get your sense of taste to thrive is to exercise the entire system that contributes to your understanding of taste. Although the sensory process is scientifically complex, you don’t need to be too concerned with it, because all you need to do is experiment and have fun tasting things.
Age well my friends….
