Matters of taste
SAVOUR THE FACTS LINKED TO FLAVOUR
1 Your brain uses introspection to sense internal signals such as letting us know when we are thirsty or need to go to the toilet. It also passes on flavour.
2 Wine buffs recommend taking a small sip, holding it in the mouth, swirling around and then breathing in a little to oxygenate the wine to get the best taste enjoyment. 3 In 1908 a Japanese boffin discovered the fifth flavour, umami, after slurping down seaweed soup. While it’s also found in the likes of mushrooms and tomatoes, umami joined tastes of bitter, salty, sweet and sour. A year later he created it in powdered form, known as MSG.
4 We have the ability to sense flavour because it’s nature’s way of making sure we eat a varied diet.
5 All parts of the tongue pick up flavours using taste buds which have between 50 and 100 receptor hair cells. Like Doctor Who they regenerate, so if you burn your tongue on a hot drink don’t worry.
6 The colour of the food and drink we consume affects how we perceive flavours – this is known as “disconfirmed expectation”. In a 1982 study, boffins found people thought drinks which contained a larger amount of red food dye were sweeter than those which were a lighter colour.
7 Flavours which we enjoy are developed before we are even born depending on what we are exposed to in the womb. If a mother has a wide palate when pregnant, a baby is more likely to enjoy a range of flavours when weaned off milk.
8 A flavour study found people from Taiwan are more likely to think a blue drink will taste minty but those in the UK – perhaps familiar with a Slush Puppie – expect it to have a raspberry taste.
9 Smelling accounts for 75% of the taste experience, which is why when you have a cold anything you stuff in your mouth to comfort yourself tastes bland.
10 Companies must only list a product as containing natural flavours if it’s derived from fruit, veg, meat, herb or dairy products. 11 A study in 2008 found people prefer the flavour of water drunk from a firm cup rather than a soft one like paper.
12 On his show Passion For Flavour, Gordon Ramsay, below with David Beckham, compared the life of a top chef to that of a pro footballer. 13 To get the best flavour out of tea, focus on water temperature. Black tea needs just off the boil to enhance the robust flavour, and green and white tea tastes better when brewed with slightly cooler temperatures. Reboiled water lacks oxygen and so gives tea a flat flavour.
14 Pineapple on pizza is popular because it complements the flavour of cheese and tomato sauce.
15 Rapper Flavor Flav, who dated actress Brigitte Nielsen, owns over 100 clocks.