Hold your nose and eat a jelly bean: you can tell it's sweet, but not which flavor. Most of what we call flavor is smell.
Key idea
The tongue senses five basic tastes: sweet, sour, salty, bitter and umami (savory, from glutamates in foods like Parmesan, tomatoes, mushrooms, soy sauce and meat). Aroma is smelled through the back of the nose as you chew and supplies most of a food's flavor. Texture, temperature and chemical feelings such as chile heat and mint's cool also shape how food tastes.
Why it works
Every taste can be sensed all over the tongue; the old "tongue map" with one taste per zone is a myth. And because aroma matters so much, food tastes flat when you have a cold, and cold food tastes less salty and sweet than the same food warm.
| Taste | Common sources |
|---|---|
| Sweet | Sugar, honey, ripe fruit, caramelized onions |
| Sour | Vinegar, citrus, wine, yogurt, tomatoes |
| Salty | Salt, soy sauce, cheese, cured meats, olives |
| Bitter | Coffee, dark chocolate, radicchio, beer, charred bits |
| Umami | Parmesan, tomatoes, mushrooms, soy sauce, anchovies, meat broths |
Worked example: Name the taste
The savory, mouth-filling taste of aged Parmesan and a long-simmered broth.
- That is the taste of glutamates.
Answer: Umami.
Common mistake
Believing the tongue map. Every part of the tongue senses every taste.
Practice at home
- Taste a spoon of plain broth. Add a pinch of salt and taste; add a squeeze of lemon and taste; add a little grated Parmesan and taste. Write what each changed.
- Eat a jelly bean with your nose held, then let go.
The science behind it
- Nerves, senses and the brain: how taste and smell reach the brain
- Our five senses: a first look