5th December 2025
I am led by my taste buds. At times they are apart from me operating independently and disdainfully of the rest. My free will crumbles as they flex their potency, demanding to be satiated. So much so I will often lose myself in a dish, powerless but to keep eating….
In my post about Salt (https://curiosityandtherascal.co.uk/2021/05/20/a-hankering-for-salt/), I explained in rudimentary terms how flavour works. It is not just a function of the taste buds on our tongue (which give us taste) but our other senses – most keenly that of smell. Of the five senses (sight, smell, touch, sound and taste), taste seems the most marginal to our survival. Perhaps so. But taste helps to forewarn if something we are about to wholly ingest is potentially dangerous. It also encourages food intake to keep us alive – co-operating with our swallowing mechanism and the release of Dopamine.
Taste is a chemical sense perceived by the fifty or more receptor cells that reside in each taste bud in our mouths. Simplistically the chemicals in food or drink mixed with saliva activate disparate receptors which send electrical impulses to the area of the brain that interprets such signals. In theory we only have five basic types of taste – sweet, bitter, salty, sour and umami (savoury) concluded because each of these tastes is thought to trigger a stronger reaction in particular receptor cells. Umami was only ‘discovered’ in the 20th century and today researchers are discussing whether ‘fat’ is another taste.
Flavour is intricate. It emerges from the brain deciphering and combining outputs of our multiple perceptions. That is tastes, smell and the feel aspects of food or drink. Think about devouring ice cream or munching on crisps and the concept of flavour will come to life. When we have a cold – we can believe it is our sensitivity to taste which has diminished but this is usually untrue. What has been affected is our sense of smell which can account for c80% of what we construe as flavour.
When food companies are looking to improve flavour, they orchestrate our sensations by manipulating our senses. This can be through deploying chemical compounds to stimulate or block the receptor cells present in our taste buds. This is because tastes interact – enhancing or suppressing each other in the deciphering mechanism of the brain. The level of sophistication achieved in the adulteration is incredible (and terrifying) as these distortions can ensure we never feel satisfied and hence keep returning for more fare.
My father used to love side plates of chillies. The hotter the better. I have fond memories of tears and nose streaming as he tucked in. Yet he was in a happy zone, unenthusiastic to halt his consumption despite the pain. I realise now this was because certain foods trigger the flooding of Dopamine into our bodies which induces pleasure; a hit if you like. We then associate eating that food with bliss, fortifying our will to ingest more. In times past this chemical high was an integral part of a survival mechanism to ensure we ate the necessary nutrients in sufficient quantities. In recent times we understand that Dopamine releases via food can also be exploited by the unscrupulous, leading to unhealthy cravings and over-eating.
Genetics and culture is deemed to influence how we react to flavour. There is some marginal evidence of our genes helping to determine our preference for sweet or salty. Research indicates our feelings about certain foods can be inherited. Babies in the womb smell and taste what the mother eats because taste buds appear at c8 weeks of gestation. Food brands such as Coca Cola have learnt to adjust the formula of Coke (at least the sweetener) dependant on the location of sale, as some nations prefer sweeter, spicier etc which is very disappointing to those of us who are obsessed with original fatty coke.
At birth, babies start off with c10,000 taste buds (compared to adults at c2,000) which means babies have a much more heightened sense of taste. Pregnant women tend to suffer taste change as the body releases hormones – thought to signal what the body and baby needs. I loathed black coffee when I was first pregnant (what was that about?) and strangely 20 years later still cannot stand the aroma. Chemo can destroy our taste buds and nerve endings modifying our enjoyment of food. Though I was surprised to learn the cells in our taste buds are replaced monthly, rejuvenating at speed.
If we regarded taste and flavour at sea level as a labyrinth, contemplate food in the skies. I am a sucker for airplane food. I know – very odd. There is something comforting in the role play of being provided food in an environment where there is nothing else to do. But this from The FT a few years ago is fascinating. It explains why the flavour profiles of food in the air are perceived as so dull by passengers. Clearly I am one of the not so sophisticated for whom this has passed by….
‘From a purely scientific perspective, the creation of a decent aeroplane meal is an elusive goal. At 35,000ft, the human tongue goes partially numb, causing you to lose about one-third of your taste buds. The microclimate of an aeroplane is drier than most deserts, which has an effect on the nose roughly equivalent to stuffing one nostril with toilet paper. Even the sound of the engine changes the way food tastes. Exposure to the background noise of an aeroplane, which can reach 80-85dB, dulls your sensitivity to salty and sugary flavours, while enhancing your perception of the ‘proteinous’ fifth taste, umami. This explains the enduring love affair between air passengers and tomato juice, which is ordered as much as beer in flight. If you drink it in the sky, it will taste richer, more savoury, and less acidic’.
What this meander about taste and flavour has taught me, is there is no point fighting the good fight when it comes to my stomach. It’s all chemicals and manipulation. Who am I to stand against nature? And who wouldn’t want to spend as much time as possible being high. Bring on the Dopamine I say. So next time you catch my nose in a trough of food, know I had no choice and just hand me the Chillies….
Curiosity and the rascal 