TASTE


 

-what we taste-what we taste with-what we feel when we taste-

 

 

What we taste:

Taste is an intimate, personalised sense in which part of the object of our analysis must make contact with the specialised cells on our tongue and be able to make an impression on them. It is not an impersonal sense by means of which a physical property or emanation of the emitter perceivable at a distance is captured.

There are few molecules that do not cause a reaction on our papillae, which means that an infinite number of perceivable flavours exists. However, all of them are combinations of four primary tastes: sweet, salty, sour and bitter. The respective sensors for these primary tastes are located on clearly delimited areas of the tongue.

The sensation of taste is far from being simple in itself, and is enriched by its ability to combine with olfactory sensations.

Gustatory strength:

Taste is a global sensation, resulting from retronasal sensations (from mouth to nose via interior route) and from contact.

Gustatory strength is expressed in gusts or units corresponding to the strength of flavour of particular standard solutions.

 

What we taste with:

The tongue is a true taste organ carpeted with thousands of papillae, which are the taste receiver organs.

Each of the four basic tastes is located on one part of the tongue. And the papillae contain hundreds of taste buds.

When we take food or drink into our mouth, their molecules dissolve in the buccal cavity with the saliva, penetrating into the pores of the tongue and exciting the nerve ends of the papillae.

The distribution of the papillae and the areas sensitive to the different tastes helps to establish a special dynamics in perception which makes the peculiar nature of how we perceive taste.

This information, together with that supplied by the nose, allows us to experience the sensations of taste.

 

What we feel when we taste:

Taste is associated with buccal perceptions and, in particular, with perceptions of food.

Only what is to be consumed as food is tasted. The complex relations that are generated between the basic tastes of different foods has led to the development of a set of techniques for creating new flavours: we call this gastronomy and in it we apply all that we learn about the nature around us.

Thanks to the complexity with which the gustatory character of a substance is established, the sense of taste is the most extensive registers and, at the same time, the most individualisable of all.

Few things distinguish human beings more than what we crave for or loathe with our taste.

We taste when we eat, we eat according to our culture and our convictions, which is like talking about the soul.

 

The taste sensations generated by wine, in which sweetness, sourness and bitterness are perfectly defined in all their richness of intensities, are given powerful nuancing thanks to the aromatic richness acting via the retronasal route and are based on a set of balances between their gustatory elements.

The sensation of taste, not highly sensitive at its thresholds, is not instantaneous like the other senses. It is perceived progressively in time and does not usually strike us with the force of other sensations.

The flavours of wine, complex to the point of exuberance, being closely modelled by smell, are named according to their best known emitters.

Language, necessarily free because of its nature, brings us close to natural descriptions, of fruit, vegetables and natural products and is the most literary of the sensorial languages.

-what we taste-what we taste with-what we feel when we taste-