The complex sensory process of tasting food.
The way in which you experience food is the result of a fascinating sensory process,
Avery interesting thing has happened to foodie and broadcaster Maeve O’Meara: “I’ve built up quite an extensive library of tastes in my brain,” she says. Her Food Safari cooking shows for SBS have taken O’Meara into the kitchens of people from countless cultures, and seen her try a broader range of dishes and flavours than most of us are likely to encounter in a lifetime. As a result, her sense of taste is extremely well honed. “Friends always remark on how I seem to taste things differently to them, and I suspect that I really do.”
Experience and exposure can certainly change a person’s palate, as O’Meara’s case illustrates, but our impressions of how things taste are, in fact, specific to each of us. “Taste is a very complex sense,” says Ingrid Appelqvist, a senior research scientist and group leader for food structure at CSIRO’s Food and Nutrition Flagship. “Taste receptors and nerve endings enable the perception of chemical signals on the tongue, and those work in tandem with your sense of smell to create what we understand as flavour.”
Genes and culture also inform our sense of taste, says Appelqvist. Research has shown that certain genes are involved in determining our preference for or avoidance of bitter flavours – and this explains why some of us (the group sometimes termed ‘supertasters’) describe green vegetables such as broccoli as bitter and coriander as ‘soapy’. “We know there is also a strong cultural basis to taste and this can influence things such as your tolerances of spices and hot food, which are normalised and built up from a very early age in some cultures.”
The CSIRO is currently involved in researching how our other senses can enhance the overall flavour perception of a food, says Appelqvist. Taste has a major role to play in Australia’s obesity crisis because – like the idea or not – the more sugar, salt and fat in the food, the more appealing it is to eat. “We’re looking at how to lower the salt and sugar in certain foods while having our other senses come into play to make those foods just as satisfying to eat.” Also underway is research into using a person’s genetic taste predispositions and physiological make-up (gathered via wearables) to personalise the ideal diet for their wellbeing.
Having tasted most of the world’s cuisines over the years, O’Meara says one thing she has noted is that every nation has their own version of “the Vegemite factor”. That Australians, on the whole, love Vegemite is perplexing to many international visitors, she says, “but you might argue it’s the same situation with Koreans and kim chi.
“We are so fortunate to have such a wonder fully diverse culinary scene in Australia today,” O’Meara points out. “We have some truly innovative chefs and cooks here, but what makes our food so good is the produce we grow locally. Good-quality fresh fruit, vegetables and meats are undoubtedly the foundation of all great-tasting dishes.”