To understand the experience of eating, one step is to define the components that go into that experience.  Karen Page and Andrew Dornenburg’s description of flavor in The Flavor Bible (highly recommended!) defines the components more elegantly than I could:

FLAVOR = TASTE + MOUTHFEEL + AROMA + “THE X FACTOR”
Taste = What is perceived by the taste buds
Mouthfeel – What is perceived by the rest of the mouth
Aroma = What is perceived by the nose
“The X Factor” = What is perceived by the other senses — plus the heart, mind, and spirit

Scientific detail on each will follow in future posts, but the basics (summarized from The Flavor Bible and coursework):

Taste happens in the mouth, primarily on the tongue.  The taste buds have 5 kinds of sensors (called receptors) which sense sweet, salty, sour, bitter, and umami (savory).

Mouthfeel happens in the mouth.  Exactly as the name implies, it’s feeling (or touching) with our mouths, just like we feel with our hands, feet, etc.  The sensation include temperature, texture, piquancy (or spicyness), and astringency (causing puckering). Read the rest of this entry »