Easter’s changing tastes

I’ve often wondered why my favourite chocolate seems to taste even better when it is in the shape of an Easter egg.

Is it because the chocolate is thinner, because it is shaped differently or is it, perhaps, all in my imagination?

But I am beginning to feel that my perception is vindicated in view of the research that has been carried out on behalf of Diageo, the multinational drinks business who supply brands like Johnnie Walker whisky, Bushmills whiskey, Smirnoff vodka and Baileys’ liqueur.

Professor Charles Spence of Oxford University is reported as saying that everything we eat or drink is processed by all our senses (a new discipline known as neurogastronomy). So when we see it, hear it, smell it, taste it and feel it, all those senses come together.

I am reinforced in my view by the Cadbury experience. Some time ago it changed the shape of its dairy milk bars to more rounded shapes to get them to melt in the mouth more easily.

But the company then had a flood of complaints from customers who thought it had changed the recipe.

Professor Spence advises chefs about neurogastronomy including Heston Blumenthal who enhanced the flavours of a seafood dish by getting diners to listen to the sounds of the seaside.

He also found it was possible to affect the perceptions of his diners’ egg and bacon ice cream experience by first playing chicken sounds and then the sound of sizzling rashers.

Other chefs have tried changing the colour of the crockery. Would you fancy your pink strawberry dessert best on a white plate or a black plate, do you think?

In one particular experiment, the ones who ate from the white plates thought the dessert was 10 per cent sweeter than those eating from the black plates.

Others think that sweetness is heightened when eating from a round plate as opposed to a square or angular plate.

Music has also been used by another restaurant to enhance sweetness or bitterness. It is said that higher notes evoke sweetness and lower ones bitterness.

Whatever you may feel about it, big business is taking it on board. So watch out for the shapes of the crockery, the colours that surround you and the type of music being played.

It is all food for thought you may think!