Amazing chemistry behind taste: What can you learn from it?

Have you realized that the familiar smell of food evokes a sudden surge of emotions in us? We start imagining how to enjoy the food … a ploy cleverly used by restaurants, to entice probable customers. There is however deep science involved in it.

Our sense of smell and taste are deeply connected with our emotions, this is because both senses are connected to our involuntary nervous system. Therefore, flavors that are appetizing increase the production of saliva and gastric juices, making them truly mouth-watering and bad taste or odor can bring about negative emotions.

What is generally categorized as “taste” is a bundle of different sensations taste perceived by the tongue, smell, texture, and temperature of a meal. Our perception of good food starts with our nose, then taste adds up and finally combining with how it looks completes the picture.  If you have a stuffy nose your perception of taste will be usually dulled.

Culinary dishes are made up of a combination of different tastes. Some dishes taste sweet-sour, while others may be salty and savory. Sweetness is typically caused by sugar and its derivatives, but other substances like amino acids and alcohol in fruit juices or alcoholic drinks can give a perception of ‘sweetness’. The sour in dishes is mostly acidic solutions like lemon juice or organic acids. Food containing table salt is mainly what we taste as salty which can be sodium, potassium or magnesium combined with chloride ions. Our sense of bitterness is due to about 35 different proteins in our sensory cells. Ripe tomatoes, meat and cheese give the savory taste which comes from glutamic acid or aspartic acid.

Research suggests fatty could be the sixth basic taste, triggered by specific fatty acids broken down by salivary enzymes from fatty foods. Along with fatty can be alkaline, metallic, and watery which we can perceive easily.  No doubt, complicated chemistry makes our food tasty and flavorful.   

Smart cook needs to bring the full flavor experience by evoking our sensory perceptions. One can combine five basic tastes and ten intensity levels to create 100,000 different flavors. We as a consumer can perceive these subtilities and appreciate a good meal (from bad).

Hope you enjoyed the science of making dishes tasty. Will be happy to bring more content on this topic should you be interested.

Happy Cooking !