Wednesday, March 26, 2008
educating our palates
from Les secrets de la casserole, by This Hervé:
In the early 80's, it was discovered that the limit of detection of saccarose, or the smallest noticeable quantity of sweetener that can be detected in a given quantity of water varies by individual ; likewise, different sweeteners are perceived with different limits according to the person. In other words, the amount of sugar that we put in our coffee depends not only on the sensation that we like to have, but also on our personal sensibility to the sweetening molecule . . . What is fascinating, and perhaps not astounding, is that these limits evolve through "education" : in a string of tests, the limits diminish, i.e. sensibility increases . . . This type of observation shows that, if we wish, we can train ourselves to develop a refined palate.
- posted by Jesse @ 9:19 PM
