1. Taste & its Sensations
Experiences that shape the foods that we eat.
nom
2. The science of taste experience
smell
+
Taste
= Flavor
Smell comprises 90% of what we taste in foods, without smell, we would only be able to recognize five tastes:
sweet, salty, sour, bitter, and savory.
Taste is a sensory function, in which taste buds found on our tongue receive chemical information. This chemical
stimuli is then turned into electrical signals that are sent to the brain. The signals are then interpreted into informa-
tion which we use to gain perception.
Flavor is the combined sensory impression of food, and is determined mainly by the chemical sense of taste and
smell.
3. Flavor Experience
Sour is a basic taste that is considered
agreeable only in small amounts. An adverse
taste, it wards off the ingestion of harmful
substances
Sweet An appetitive taste, sweetness rewards
the consumption of energy-rich sugars.
Umami is an appetitive taste facilitating ingestion of protein-
rich food, and it is variously described as a savory
Bitterness is perceived by many to be un-
pleasant. An adverse taste, it helps prevent
ingestion of toxic substances.
Saltiness is the taste of salt. Salt suppresses bitterness, and is
commonly added to chocolates, fruits, and desserts to inten-
sify their sweetness.
4. Chocolate Eating Experience
1Visual:ATake your time; inspect
the bar. properly tempered bar
is shiny and bright. What’s the
color like? Color variations can
be extreme, from light to dark. Is it
dusty-looking with bloom? Bloom
can change the texture of a bar,
which affects flavor.
2 Aroma: Some peopletorub their
fingers over chocolate warm
it up and release the oils that
deliver aroma. Remember that as
you taste, the aroma will develop.
Some tasters will even melt choco-
late and eat it with a spoon to get
more of the aroma earlier.
3 Texture: Break a chunk off.the
A clean snap indicates that
chocolate’s been well tempered.
Put it in your mouth. Close your
eyes and think about what you’re
experiencing. Chew a few times
to break it up, and let it melt in
your mouth. The rate at which it
melts affects how quickly the fla-
vors develop. Smack your tongue
on the roof of your mouth to get a
sense of the texture. Is it creamy,
fatty, gritty? How well does it
spread out across your palate?
4 Flavor: The basicare bitteryou
might experience
flavors
and
sweet. But do you get any sour
notes? Any roasted notes? Is there
fruitiness from the acids? Sometimes
you’ll get a zing of brightness and
citrus. Some flavors come from
flaws in the chocolate-making, like
smokiness, mustiness, or earthiness;
even hamminess, says Kintzer. How
does the flavor linger? What is go-
ing on in your mouth even well after
the chocolate is gone?
5. Ingredient Experience
Chocolate contains more than 350 known compounds, several of which activate three important brain systems that contribute to
the experience of pleasure. Sugar, as one ingredient, have a profound and positive impact on our physiology, most notably in
the form of a calming effect. Chocolate contains small amounts of theobromine and phenylethlamine, which have the effects of
dopmine that provide the familiar “boost” we all experience after eating chocolate. Small amounts of Anandamide is also present
in chocolate, which acts similarly to the effects one experiences from THC consumption, or smoking a joint.
It’s easy to understand why chocolate becomes ‘addicting’ based on the ingredients alone. It quenches the pleasure instinct by
activating three key brain transmitter systems that are involved in reward. The sucrose in chocolate is just a savvier version of
fructrose-a form of sugar that is naturally present in most fruits that were widely available to early hominid hunter-gatherers.
-The Pleasure Instinct: Why we crave adventure, chocolate, pheremones, and music
Desire to eat the whole bar
Chemical Experience
Chocolate also contains phenylethylamine, a chemical related to
amphetamines. Like amphetamines, this chemical causes blood
pressure and blood-sugar levels to rise, resulting in a feeling of
alertness and contentment. Phenylethylamine has been called the
"love-drug" because it quickens your pulse, as if you are in love.
Caffeine in chocolate may also cause feelings of alertness and
a pounding heart. Other stimulants in chocolate include theobro-
mine and methylxanthines. These caffeine-relatives are weaker
than caffeine-you'd have to eat more than 12 Hershey bars to
get as much caffeine as there is in one cup of coffee. All of these
stimulants increase the activity of neurotransmitters in the brain.
Extra boost to share love
energy to climb a mountain
6. Evolutionary Experience
Hard-wired aversions
First, these people are going to encounter
unfamiliar foodstuffs. There are certain
bitter flavour profiles that indicate danger, such
as the smell of rotten or decaying food and
the extreme bitter flavor of many poisonous
chemicals. Darker chocolates tend to be
bitter, but Milka being sweeter and more
palatable is not aversive to taste.
Predilections for
‘good’ foodstuffs
In a hunter-gatherer
environment where
calories are rela-
Learning and memory
tively scarce, you want
If a potential food item is tried, and makes you sick,
people to be drawn to
then you’ll want to have a strong aversion to that food
foods with high energy
coupled with good memory and accurate discrimination
hunter content. The amount
of its precise smell (preferably you don’t want it to get as
of sugar in chocolate
far as your mouth) -- or failing that its taste.
translates into a high-
energy food, therefore
we are biologically
pre-determined to seek
out chocolate
hate
Reward and interest
Hunger serves as a motivating factor to get people to motivate
people to find food, whether by hunting or gathering or even agri-
culture. The reward must be in the pleasurable sensation of eating.
Not only will a discriminating sense of taste and smell be useful
in helping people choose good food from bad, it will also add
greatly to the potential interest level of the food consumed.
reward
* The ideas presented here give some sort of bio-
logical explanation. The ability of our smell and
taste abilities to be trained, the excellent long-
term memory we have for tastes and smells, and
the reward systems that encourage us to seek out
pleasurable taste sensations all must play a part.
7. Pleasure Experience
Involuntary memory
Sensory experiences recalls memory.
“No sooner had the warm liquid mixed with the crumbs
touched my palate than a shudder ran through me and
I stopped, intent upon the extraordinary thing that was
happening to me. An exquisite pleasure had invaded my
senses, something isolated, detached, with no suggestion
of its origin. And at once the vicissitudes of life had become
indifferent to me, its disasters innocuous, its brevity illusory
– this new sensation having had on me the effect which
love has of filling me with a precious essence; or rather this
essence was not in me it was me. ... Whence did it come?
What did it mean? How could I seize and apprehend it?
... And suddenly the memory revealed itself. The taste was
that of the little piece of Madeleine which on Sunday morn-
ings at Combray (because on those mornings I did not go
out before mass), when I went to say good morning to her
in her bedroom, my aunt Léonie used to give me, dipping
it first in her own cup of tea or tisane. The sight of the little
madeleine had recalled nothing to my mind before I tasted
it. And all from my cup of tea.”
THINK have you ever smelled something or tasted some-
thing that reminds you of a memory or a place from your past?
-From In Search of Lost Time, Marcel Proust
Psychology of Size
We have a culturally enforced 'consumption norm,' which
promotes both the tendency to complete eating a unit and
the idea that a single unit is the proper amount to eat. The
concept of unit bias helps explain how environmental differ-
ences in portions and package sizes impact overall consump-
tion. The larger tablet for Milka poses an interesting problem
based on its larger than average chocolate bar size.
8. Situational Experiences
Our brains make the connection between foods and the situation around that food. Foods enjoyed in good circumstances are ob-
viously more highly preferred than foods experienced during negative circumstances. More often than not, when you first started
eating chocolate it was centered around an enjoyable time or memory. Whether a holiday baking session, a gift of chocolates
for Valentines Day, or a chef sampling his latest concoction, chocolate has intimately been involved in moments of joy, love, and
overall happiness.
Food Experience Seekers
Gourmand is a person who takes great pleasure in
food. The word has different connotations from the similar word
gourmet, which emphasizes an individual with a highly refined
discerning palate, but in practice the two terms are closely
linked, as both imply the enjoyment of good food.
Similarly, aBON VIVEUR is a person who enjoys
the good things of life, especially food. The phrase is derived
from the French bon vivant, meaning good living, a bon viveur
being a “good liver”, or one who lives well.
