Five Smart Tricks to Improve the “taste” of Food
Whether you’re worried about impressing someone with your cooking skills, or trying a new recipe for the first time, there are some mental tricks you can use to make your food seem better than it actually is. Here are five of the most effective.
Make the “cover” artistic
If you’ve ever watched a cooking competition show like Iron Chef or Chopped, you’ve probably heard them talk about how “sheathing” accentuates a dish. Coating is how you place food on the plate itself, andresearch has shown that it can actually enhance the flavor of your food. Here are some of the decoration basics:
- Start with a clean plate (white is always a safe choice)
- Don’t overload your food (and try to keep your pasta small)
- Use contrasting colors, textures, sizes and shapes
- Always use a side dish (such as fresh herbs and sprinkles, spoonfuls or slices of sauce).
We’ve covered how to prepare beautiful food before, so check out our guide for more tips.
Create the perfect dining atmosphere
In a restaurant, atmosphere is one of the key components of customer retention. You want to think of your dining room, patio, living room, or other place to eat as a tiny restaurant and you will create the mood. If you can make the overall food experience more enjoyable, the dish itself will appear more enjoyable.
Start by listening to music. Studies have shown that music played at comfortable volume levels increases the enjoyment of dining. One study by researchers Christopher K. Novak, Joseph La Lopa and Robert E. Novak and published in the Journal of Culinary Science & Technology found that music played in a loudness range of 62-67 dBA (roughly the same as normal conversation) increases the enjoyment of food intake and consumer satisfaction. However, music that was too loud only made the situation worse, so leave it quiet. Even a little background sound can help set the tone.
There are a few more things you can do to create an atmosphere. Light, temperature, and entertaining presence can also positively affect someone’s mind while eating, according to Insead Food Marketing’s multidisciplinary review :
- Reduce the temperature (our bodies will think we need more energy to stay warm)
- Turn down the lights or use candles (this calms us down)
- Use recreational social entertainment such as turning on the TV or being present
In an interview with NPR, Charles Spence, an experimental psychologist at the University of Oxford, also recommends keeping a light mood and avoiding stress. If someone is in a bad mood, the food may seem even worse than it actually is . Before serving, cheer everyone up. With the right atmosphere, you will ensure that their brains do most of the work and not their taste buds.
Use heavier silver
AsBoris Klinok once said , “heavy is good, heavy is reliable.” We associate heavy things with value, and cutlery is no exception. A recent study by scientists Charles Michel, Carlos Velasco, Charles Spence and published in the magazine Flavor found that diners using heavier utensils enjoyed their meals more than they would if they were using lighter ones.
In addition, the heavier silverware made diners appreciate the plating more and even influenced how much they would happily pay for the same meal again. If you’re worried about food, it’s time to give up the pleasant and heavy things. If you don’t have them, you’ll likely find a heavy set at your local thrift store. The heavier the better.
Appeal to morality and nostalgia of people
People love to know that they are eating something special because it makes them feel special, and appealing to people’s morality or the nostalgic side can give you an edge. A recent study by Boyka Bratanova and published in the journal Appetite suggests that people will enjoy food more if they know the food is more ethical. The ethical origin of food increases their moral satisfaction with food and thus enhances their taste expectations and experiences. They think, “I can get as much pleasure from it as I want, because there is nothing morally questionable about where it came from,” and set themselves up to get more pleasure out of it than they could. Humanely and sustainably raised animals may or may not taste better, but people love to eat with a lighter conscience.
In addition, research from the University of Illinois Food and Brands Lab suggests that mentioning the past may make them feel like they are eating something healthy or traditional. For example, Granny’s Chocolate Chip Cookies are likely to be “tastier” than regular chocolate chip cookies. Or, if you said that your pasta dish was an “old family secret”, people would probably like it a little more because they think they taste the story. Both of these tricks are commonly used on restaurant menus to make you want certain foods over others.
Adjust their taste expectations
In a study by Brian Wanzink of Cornell University and published in the journal Physiology & Behavior , researchers found that someone’s taste expectations are easily influenced by what you tell them. During the study, visitors were offered wine to eat either from California (known for its vineyards) or North Dakota (not known for wine at all). Customers serving California wine thought they were served a nicer drink than customers serving North Dakota wine and adjusted their taste expectations for the entire meal by eating more than other customers. In fact, both groups of attendees were served a $ 3 bottle of wine, but the idea is that you can convince people that something is good if you tell them it is good. Opening a “bottle of good wine” to “great homemade food” creates a foundation in their minds pretty well.
If something is expensive, people also find it enjoyable and adjust their taste expectations. In a separate study from Cornell , researchers found that diners enjoyed buffets when they cost twice as much as other buffets. When you tell someone that the food they are going to eat is more expensive, they expect to appreciate the taste more and look for the subtleties that can only come from “expensive food.” If you hint at dinner guests that they are about to eat delicious, expensive food – which deserves to be paired with a good bottle of wine – they will probably believe it’s nice and adjust their tastes before they even take a bite. …