Essay #2 – Taste

*** THIS IS THE FIRST SUBMISSION, SCROLL DOWN FOR REVISION ***

Dan Burkhardt

Professor Harrison

College Writing – 101

15 September 2008

The Relationship of Our Senses

If describing the sense of taste were a burden that I had to bear, it would be a burden that I would surely fail to weather. When I call upon the synapses of my mind to purge themselves and reveal to me the reason certain flavors elicit such strong emotional responses, the only thoughts that I can form are complete situational memories; the atmosphere in that certain restaurant, the feeling of fellowship and family at a barbeque, the elation and carefree attitude of wedding guests at a reception. Naturally, I tend to, like anyone else, think of my favorite comfort foods and the fact that really no matter what the situation, they always tend to hit the spot. It seems however that my attitude toward certain foods or flavors has been shaped by situational and environmental contexts, which may have negatively or positively altered my perception of that particular taste.

In a blog that I had come across related to the experience of dining, the author, Alan Porter, a self described food enthusiast, elaborated on his perception of the qualities that made the restaurant experience enjoyable; “Ambience – not stuffy, but also not noisy; white table cloths, and the judicious use of a crumbler between courses is always appreciated.“<!–[if supportFields]> CITATION Ala07 \l 1033 <![endif]–>(Porter, 2007)<!–[if supportFields]><![endif]–>. He went on to say; “The food must be better than good and ‘good’ is hard to define. Fresh, seasonal and local (if possible) ingredients prepared in interesting ways.”<!–[if supportFields]> CITATION Ala07 \l 1033 <![endif]–>(Porter, 2007)<!–[if supportFields]><![endif]–> Why do people have such preferences for the environment in which they eat? Why would the knowledge that the food you are eating was grown locally, have any influence on how you taste your meal? Alan Porter obviously has some very developed tastes in food that many people may not share, but I think that he is on to something. I think that the experience of eating the food can be just as important as the food itself.

I think of this concept in the context of something like this; if I were to prepare myself some lunch using some of my favorite deli items, ham and American cheese, it would taste good to me. I would enjoy that meal very much, but I don’t think that I would explicitly remember what I had for lunch that particular day a week later. However, when I think of that particular meal in general, a memory that brings itself crashing through the forefront of my mind is of when I was a boy and spent the weekends at my grandparent’s house. My grandmother would make my siblings and I ham and cheese for lunch while we were out playing in the back yard, getting into all kinds of things; being kids. I looked forward to it then, and as a sort of comfort food today, the reason why I may choose this particular sandwich over another is because when I bite into it, a feeling of satisfaction comes rushing back and I silently experience part of that special memory.

Everybody has the tendency to covertly and unknowingly attach emotional responses to all five senses. This seems to be as much a part of the human experience as breathing, or asking questions. It is because of this fact that any person can stay right where they are and recall a particular taste. Envisioning the flavor, texture and temperature of that particular morsel, one can, for a couple of seconds, reproduce the taste in their mouth, the feeling in the air, the smell of the location where the tasting occurred and the sounds accompanying that place. Anyone can, in his or her mind’s eye, take a look around the room and remember the subtle details of the environment surrounding them. If even for just a brief lapse of time, the forces of emotion and memory allow a person feel the same way they had, placing their body in a time warp of feelings and emotions, long been suppressed.

Though the sense of taste is powerful and extremely personal, taste is not just taste. The tongue can only detect four basic things; salty, sweet, bitter and sour. With this being said, I don’t think that any person could place the experience of their favorite or most memorable flavor into one of four variations, or even a combination of them for that matter. Diane Ackerman refers to the sense of taste early on her chapter entitled “Smell” in A Natural History of the Senses. She states that; “Much of the taste of food depends on its smell.” Elaborating further, she writes; “We taste only four flavors, sweet, sour, salt and bitter. That means that everything else we call flavor is really odor.”<!–[if supportFields]> CITATION Dia90 \l 1033 <![endif]–>(Ackerman, 1990)<!–[if supportFields]><![endif]–> And so if this is indeed true, then any person’s perception of what his or her favorite food or flavor is, actually has much more to do with the sense of smell, then with the sense of taste.

Taking this one step further, I don’t think it would it be incorrect to say that since the sense of smell has a great amount of influence on what someone may taste, the sense of sight could have the same effect. And what about the sense of hearing? Additionally, the sense of touch has a great amount to do with it, after all, who would want to eat something that has what they perceive to be an uninviting or uncomfortable texture? All of these things have an influence on the memory of that particular taste and in the future, when the person is confronted with this same flavor again, for just an instant that stored memory of flavor unlocks a hidden door, and all the other emotions tied to it come rushing back.

It must be mentioned that not in all cases will any one sense be a memorable experience. It would consume a vast amount of our precious human memory to remember every single meal we had ever eaten or every single time we heard a sound that repulsed us, but surely the instances that a person will remember, have been in the company of a whole host of other senses that provide a supporting role, influencing the overall opinions that one may consciously form.

Dan Burkhardt

Dr. Harrison

English 101

15 September 2008

My goals for this assignment are; write in a persuasive genre, as I haven’t really tried before and in doing so, make the argument that the sense of taste can relative to the experience surrounding it and thus not always true. I think that someone who might read this would be someone who may be looking for some insight into the way the sense of smell operates.

I achieved my goals because the way I presented the information in this paper was in a persuasive style. I had an objective in mind, to convince the reader of my point of view that the sense of taste can be contextual as well as a personal preference. I presented my point in a clear concise way that I believe most people could relate to.

Focus Question:

What other techniques could I have utilized to make a more compelling argument?

Works Cited

<!–[if supportFields]> BIBLIOGRAPHY \l 1033 <![endif]–>Ackerman, D. (1990). A Natural History of the Senses. New York, New York.: Vintage Books.

Porter, A. (2007, December 14). Alanporter.Blogspot.com. Retrieved September 14, 2008, from http://alanporter.blogspot.com/2007/12/what-makes-good-restaurant-experience.html

<!–[if supportFields]><![endif]–>

*** THIS IS THE REVISION ***

The Relationship of Our Senses
by Dan Burkhardt

If simply describing the sense of taste were a burden I had to bear, it would be one that I would most definitely fail to weather. When I call upon the synapses of my mind to purge themselves and reveal to me the reason certain flavors elicit such strong emotional responses, the only thoughts I can form are complete situational memories; the atmosphere in that certain restaurant, the feeling of fellowship and family at a barbeque, the elation and carefree attitude of wedding guests at a reception. Naturally, like anyone else, I think of my favorite comfort foods and the fact that really no matter what the situation, they always succeed in making me feel at ease. It seems that my attitude toward certain foods or flavors has been shaped by situational and environmental contexts, which may have negatively or positively altered my perception of that particular taste.

In a blog I had come across related to the experience of dining, the author, Alan Porter, a self described food enthusiast, elaborated on his perception of the qualities that made the restaurant experience enjoyable: “Ambience– not stuffy, but also not noisy; white table cloths, and the judicious use of a crumbler between courses is always appreciated. The food must be better than good and ‘good’ is hard to define. Fresh, seasonal and local (if possible) ingredients prepared in interesting ways” (Porter). Why do people have such preferences for the environment in which they eat? Why would the knowledge that the food was grown locally, have any influence on how it tastes? Alan Porter obviously has some very developed tastes that many people may not share, but I think that he is on to something. I think that the experience of eating the food can be just as important as the food itself.

I think of this concept in the context of something like preparing lunch. Using some of my favorite deli items, ham and American cheese, if I were to make a sandwich (or two) it would not only taste good but it would also feel good. When I think of that particular meal in general, a memory that brings itself crashing through the forefront of my mind is of when I was a boy and spent the weekends at my grandparents’ house. My grandmother would make my siblings and I ham and cheese for lunch while we were out playing in the yard, carefree and adventurous. I looked forward to it then, and as a sort of comfort food today, the reason why I may choose this particular sandwich over another is because when I bite into it, a feeling of satisfaction comes rushing back and I silently experience part of that special memory even if only in the most dormant part of my mind.

People have the tendency to covertly and unknowingly attach emotional responses to their senses. This seems to be as much a part of the human experience as breathing, or asking questions. It is because of this fact that someone could stay right where they are and recall a particular taste. Envisioning the flavor, texture and temperature of that particular morsel, one can, for a couple of seconds, reproduce the taste in their mouth. It is usually in this moment that other senses may interject themselves; the feeling in the air, the smell of the location where the tasting occurred for the first time and the sounds accompanying that place. In my experience, I find that most people can, in his or her mind’s eye, take a look around the room and remember the subtle details of the environment surrounding them when exposed to a familiar flavor. If even for just a brief lapse of time, the forces of emotion and memory can place their body in a time warp of sensations that have long been suppressed.

Though the sense of taste is powerful and extremely personal, taste is not just taste. The tongue can only detect four basic things; salty, sweet, bitter and sour. With this being said, I don’t think that any person could place the experience of their favorite or most memorable flavor into one of four variations, or even a combination of them for that matter. Diane Ackerman refers to the sense of taste early on her chapter entitled “Smell” in A Natural History of the Senses when she states that “much of the taste of food depends on its smell.” Elaborating further, she writes: “We taste only four flavors, sweet, sour, salt and bitter. That means that everything else we call flavor is really odor” (Ackerman 13). So if this is indeed true, then any person’s perception of what his or her favorite food or flavor is, actually has much more to do with the sense of smell, then with the sense of taste.

Taking this one step further, I don’t think it would it be incorrect to say that since the sense of smell has a great amount of influence on what someone may taste, the sense of sight could have the same effect. And what about the sense of hearing? Additionally, the sense of touch has a great amount to do with it, after all, who would want to eat something that has what they perceive to be an uninviting or uncomfortable texture? All of these things have an influence on the memory of that particular taste and in the future, when the person is confronted with this same flavor again, for just an instant that stored memory of flavor unlocks a hidden door, and all the other emotions tied to it come rushing back. Surely the instances that a person will remember with regard taste or flavor have been in the company of a whole host of other senses that provide a supporting role, influencing the overall opinions that one may consciously  or unconsciously form.

Works Cited

Ackerman, Diana. A Natural History of the Senses. New York, New York.: Vintage Books, 1990.

Porter, Alan. Alanporter.Blogspot.com. 14 December 2007. 14 September 2008
<http://alanporter.blogspot.com/2007/12/what-makes-good-restaurant-experience.html&gt;.