Taste: Surprising Stories and Science About Why Food Tastes Good Read Online Free

satisfying—and arguably healthier—life. Later in the book I will explore howtaste influences the food choices you make. Of course, you choose certain foods because you like them, but we’ll explore why you like them.
    Our individual food preferences change continuously from the time we are born to the time we die. Understanding this will help you better understand the food choices of your kids, partner, friends, and aging parents. The reality is that some people are actually more sensitive tasters than others. But those who are more sensitive tasters are not necessarily better tasters, chefs, or home cooks. That would be akin to saying that people with perfect vision make the best art critics. I have perfect vision, but know nothing about art. I lack the training, practice, experience, and desire to critique art. If I wanted, I could get training, practice, build my experience, and eventually develop some skill at it. But even training and being born with perfect vision wouldn’t guarantee I’d be a better critic than someone with glasses or contact lenses who has a burning passion for art. Regardless of what your anatomy and genetics have endowed you with, you can be a better taster with training, practice, and a hunger to learn.
    The more experience you have tasting a particular food, the better you will be able to recognize and analyze it. Your ability to identify both tastes and smells improves with repeated exposure. In other words, the more pinot noir wines you taste, the better you’ll be able to discriminate between them: good versus bad, sweet versus dry, soft versus tannic. The same holds true for types of cheese, chocolate, apples—anything. Practice makes perfect.
    For example, I used to wonder what the flavor descriptor rancid meant. I knew that the word referred to fats that had gone bad, but I didn’t know what that smelled or tasted like. The key characteristic of rancidity is a subtle odor that is often missed. In rancid meats, it can be described as “warmed over.” Rancid nuts can taste fishy. Rancid oils can smell like waxy crayons. Over the course of my tasting career at Mattson, I have smelled and tasted many rancid foods (another unique job benefit), usually in the ongoing process of tasting foods as they age (yet another benefit). In the early years I asked my more experienced colleagues to point rancidity out to me while I tasted beside them, and I learned what it was. Now when I taste spoiled fats, nuts, or meats, I know immediately that they’re rancid because I’ve improved my ability to perceive this flavor with training and experience. Taste What You’re Missing will help you enhance your perception of flavors.
    As you become a better taster, you will naturally begin to pay more attention to your food. This in turn can have many benefits beyond enhancing your enjoyment of food. Gerard J. Musante, PhD, founder and director of the weight-lossfacility Structure House Center for Weight Control and Lifestyle Change, says, “If you take your time while eating; if your process of consuming your meal is something you experience moment by moment; if you’re truly aware of what you’re doing at the table—then I believe that mindfulness will leave you more satisfied and less likely to overeat.” Musante’s weight-loss program focuses on teaching people how to transform their relationship with food. Through eating more mindfully, Musante says, “You begin to recognize flavors. You begin to appreciate food for what it is.”
    Research that links smell and taste with weight loss has already produced commercial products designed to help people lose weight. But whether you struggle with your weight or not, you can use Taste What You’re Missing as a calorie-free way to get more satisfaction from the food you eat. Today, food is everywhere, but if you can feel more confident that you will derive optimal satisfaction from every bite you eat, you’ll be less likely to take unmemorable bites.