One of our five senses, it is the most complex, the most evocative, and the most mysterious sense – But we don’t know how to talk about it
Think about that for a moment – what words have you got to describe flavour except for comparing it to something else? Strong, weak, rich, complicated – there are some, but not many. Compared to the plethora of words we have to describe colour, shape, movement, sound – the flavour landscape is desolate. Most people duck away from vivid descriptions, preferring hedonic terms, like “It’s good.” And yet food is incredibly important to us; it evokes memories, creates atmospheres, is used to bond with other people and change our mood.
Different people respond to different flavours differently, partly because of memories, and partly because of different sensitivities to flavours.
Sensitivity can be mapped: our sensitivity to bitterness is gradually lost as we age, allowing us to drink stronger tea. Strangely, this changes differently for men and women: the decline in scent and in bitterness sensitivity is gradual for men, but for women, doesn’t kick in until the menopause. This may be because many bitter things are natural poisons. Our ability to detect them directly impacts our ability to survive in the wild. It’s more important to refine this sense early so we learn lessons we remember our whole lives. Similarly, children are mad about sugar. This sensitivity to it, which we lose as we age, could be another survival tactic, encouraging children to quickly hone in on the densest sources of energy.
Think about that for a moment – what words have you got to describe flavour except for comparing it to something else? Strong, weak, rich, complicated – there are some, but not many. Compared to the plethora of words we have to describe colour, shape, movement, sound – the flavour landscape is desolate. Most people duck away from vivid descriptions, preferring hedonic terms, like “It’s good.” And yet food is incredibly important to us; it evokes memories, creates atmospheres, is used to bond with other people and change our mood.
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| Smell plays a bigger role in our lives than we might realise Image credit: Public domain |
Different people respond to different flavours differently, partly because of memories, and partly because of different sensitivities to flavours.
Sensitivity can be mapped: our sensitivity to bitterness is gradually lost as we age, allowing us to drink stronger tea. Strangely, this changes differently for men and women: the decline in scent and in bitterness sensitivity is gradual for men, but for women, doesn’t kick in until the menopause. This may be because many bitter things are natural poisons. Our ability to detect them directly impacts our ability to survive in the wild. It’s more important to refine this sense early so we learn lessons we remember our whole lives. Similarly, children are mad about sugar. This sensitivity to it, which we lose as we age, could be another survival tactic, encouraging children to quickly hone in on the densest sources of energy.
But different people lose sensitivity to different smells. It's possible this may depend on the pollutants and viruses you’re exposed to during your lifetime. More mysterious is the fact that by actively studying scents, you can halt sensitivity loss entirely. You can also teach yourself to like flavours or get sick of them by exposing yourself to them – adjusting your internal regulator.
