COOK AND EAT WITH YOUR EYES

As Roman gourmand Apicius famously noted – and food psychologists have since proven – we eat first with our eyes and that dictates much of our experience. Indeed, by shaping our expectations, the appearance of foods has even been shown to influence what we taste when we eat them. So a big, beautiful salad boasting a variety of leaves and colours and textures won’t just look better than a handful of spinach – it will taste better, too.

We should also remember that we eat with our eyes when it comes to pre-made food, Spence says – particularly when it’s something asymmetrical (or without a uniform appearance).

For all the heated discussion about which way round to eat a chocolate digestive – to flip or not to flip – it seems eating it chocolate side up maximises our sensory experience, because it is the energy-dense, chocolatey top our brains find so appealing.