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When I think of this sense the only word that comes to mind is Mmmmm! Why not? Through it a number of emotions emerge from tasting food and wine. Let start for the sense of Taste will be a very interesting one and full of adventure and seduction.
The taste brings a sea of possibilities. From tasting different feelings are born in our system, shared with a particular flavor and a mood.
Hugo Jesús Montenegro Ruiz in his monograph “The sense of taste” shares in conclusion:
The sense of taste, perhaps the closest of our five senses, has traditionally been considered unsuitable for analysis with a certain seriousness: too physical, too particular and personal. However, in addition to causing physical pleasure, eating and drinking are actions that harbor a symbolic and aesthetic value in the lives of people, and continually inspire writers and artists. Carolyn Korsmeyer explains how taste has come to occupy a place so low in the hierarchy of the senses and why it deserves more attention and respect.
Korsmeyer begins with the great Greek thinkers who classified taste as an inferior and merely physical sense. Then, presents a scientific view of the actual operation of taste and identifies multiple components in taste experiences. Focusing on the objects of taste, the food and drink, ‘observes the different meanings that have adopted in art and literature and in everyday life, and proposes an approach to the aesthetic value of taste to recognize the representative role and expressive of the meal. Korsmeyer’s consideration about art includes works that use the food in contexts sacred or profane, which seek to stimulate or suppress appetite. Her selection of literary passages meets macabre tales of feasting and stories of affinities arising around a table.
With its splendid illustrations and clear prose and appealing sense of taste is an appetizer for those who are curious to know the true meaning of a sensory experience as universal and deeply personal.
Let us take on the task of stimulating the taste, and start writing our experiences on paper.
“Nothing could get tired of eating and drinking if God had not made a pleasure as a necessity.”-Voltaire
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Exercises for the palate and creativity
Is a delight to perform this exercises, and the thought activates my salivary glands, which reminds me of Pavlov’s dogs. We exercise the taste, while black and white catches our experiences.
- Go to your refrigerator and sample the fruits and vegetables in it. Did you buy ham? Try them, the prosciutto, one of my favorites, is salty and reminds me of a sunny afternoon, I like to accompany it with a glass of red wine.
- Speaking of wine, do you like it? Arrange to attend a class of wine tasting or arrange a get together with friends at home. Take notes of what others and the instructor will say about the taste of wine. You might ask your friends to take a minute and write in a note what the wines remind them of, what feelings arouse from it. If you can, buy a bottle, usually in the back it gives a description of its taste, compare these with what you taste of it.
- We all have a cookbook in our kitchen, right? Open it at random and get cooking. Rejoice then and if you’re not good at cooking, just follow the instructions step by step, the results are unforgettable. Write the experience down, this is a great opportunity to combine the sense of smell and taste.
- What is your favorite flavor? What memories come to mind? Where does your soul go to when tasting this flavor?
- Escape to a restaurant you’ve always wanted to visit. In solitude enjoy it and write.
- Venture to try those foods and drinks you’ve never had, and sometimes ignore them in the restaurant or market.
Don’t forget to share your experiences with us here at Mink! Happy Tastings, dear writer and reader!
PS: You might also want to exercise this Senses: Hearing and Sight.
Related articles
- Two ways to smell wine… (nowineforyou.com)
- The Taste (shyspark.wordpress.com)