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PROTAGONIST / GASTROPHYSICS

} In the process of food intake, the sense of sight counts for 50%,
while the senses of taste and smell count for only 10%

hat we traditionally consider ‘sensations’, The sensitivity of our taste buds, whether they are developed
in short, are never just the result of a single to a greater or lesser extent, counts for very little indeed in this
sense, but are always a multi-sensory combi- path. “In reality, we eat primarily with our eyes,” reveals Russo.
nation. “Another key element: in the devel- “In fact, in the process of food intake, our sense of sight counts
W opment of this process in a fraction of a mil- for 50%, and we can assign 20% to hearing and 10% to touch,
lisecond, the brain is never “independent”, but rather, perception whereas the two senses that should logically be the domina-
is oriented by the expectations that the brain itself has construct- tors of this field, taste and smell, actually count for only around
ed,” explains Russo. “The question that our research started from 10% each. This is due to mankind’s age-old evolutionary path,
is: ‘can the expectations provoked by communication, by packag- which has gradually marginalised the importance of having
ing or by external factors such as background music, the shape developed senses of taste and smell as a function of survival.
of a product or the lights in a restaurant modify the sensory and
gustatory perception of a product?’ The answer is yes,” he contin- he sentinel-senses, those on which life or death depend-
ues, “This is backed up by a wealth of studies and experiments that ed in the event being attacked by a beast, or an enemy
delve into the practical side. One of the best known gastrophysi- Ttribe, have become sight and hearing, while the other
cists, Charles Spence, has shown for example how the flavour of senses seem to have gradually become atrophied. 50% of the
a certain product is perceived differently depending on the back- perceptive areas of the brain today are dedicated to vision.” In
ground music played while it is tasted. “The experiment conduct- a neuroscience experiment, the enjoyment of two glasses of
ed by Spence involved a group of consumers who had the task of wine was evaluated by a group of consumers, who were asked
evaluating the degree of bitterness of the same wine under two dif- to indicate their preference and the quality perceived. The con-
ferent conditions, first while listening to a piece of high-pitched sumers were told that one of the two wines cost 5 dollars and
music and then to a piece of low-pitched music. In the first phase, the other 45. In reality, it was the same wine. The wine served
the subjects judged the wine to be sweeter,” explains Russo, “and at a declared price of 45 dollars was perceived as ‘better’ that
despite it being the same wine, high-pitched music, which is gen- the one presented as a cheap wine. “Even though the sensory
erally somewhat ‘sweeter’, made it seem sweeter than in the set- stimulation was the same, the brain activation during the tast-
ting with low-pitched music. By the same influencing mechanism, ing phase highlighted a different reaction in the area of the
Spence has demonstrated how a particularly noisy packet of crisps brain given over to agreeableness and the sensory pleasure of
can make its contents seem crunchier than the same crisps con- taste, that is, the frontal orbital cortex and the pre-frontal ven-
tained in less noisy packaging. That is why, these days, crisps tend tromedial cortex,” explains Russo. “Believing that they were
to come in packaging so loud as to be almost annoying. The per- tasting a more expensive wine caused significantly more acti-
ception of the product is not only influenced by background vation of these two areas in the subjects. The communication
noises, but also by the expectations determined by the colours of the price and the emotion associated with it created expec-
of a label, of a container or of the product itself. “A chocolate tations that were able to make the same gustatory stimulus be
mousse served on a white plate is perceived as being sweeter than perceived in a different manner. But are chefs aware of all this?
the same mousse presented on a black plate,” says Russo. In- “Some chefs are starting to take an interest in gastrophysics and
deed, the actual shape of a product may contribute towards mak- neuroscience,” says Russo. “For example, in high-class restau-
ing it seem sweeter. “In 2013, the Cadbury company decided to rants, a lot of attention is paid to some elements that guide per-
“round” its chocolate bars, smoothing off the corners and edges. ception: the background music, the use of fragrances to enno-
Believe it or not, the company’s most loyal consumers immediate- ble napkins, the tactile and graphic presentation of the menu.
ly complained about the change in flavour, maintaining that the Banalising, if I write ‘granny’s baked potatoes’ instead of just
recipe had been altered to make the chocolate sweeter. In reality, ‘baked potatoes’, more customers will order the potatoes, and
the recipe had not been changed at all, only the shape of the bar they will testify that, yes, in effect, they have a more authentic
was modified. The less angular, more rounded shape of the choc- taste.” Think about it, next time you sit at the table. Or, don’t
olate contributed towards making the product seem sweeter.” think about it at all. Just let your brain get on with doing its job.

Adjoining page, a variation of pumpkin with sausage and pistachio sauce by Alfonso Iaccarino of Don Alfonso 1890 in Sant’Agata sui Due Golfi (Naples),
according to the photographer Alfonso Catalano for the ‘Colortaste’ project, that is, the photographic-artistic reinterpretation
of dishes prepared by great chefs. The surprising result that makes the ingredients of the dishes abstract can be seen on the pages of this article.

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