Palates and Plates

We're all aware of how important the presentation of a dish can be.....but did you know that the plate itself also impacts how a food is perceived?

There was a recent article that we found very interesting on the BBC's website titled Sweet or Sour? Altering how we taste our food that we found to be very interesting! (Not to mention very helpful explaining why there is such a variety of plates used in restaurants these days....)

Apparently, it's not just our mouths and noses that we use to 'sort' the flavours! That scrumptious dessert that you just had at your favourite restaurant.....what colour was the plate? Dark or light, circular or square? Have we got you completely confused as to what we're on about now?

According to recent studies on neurogastronomy (that's studying how the brain creates and defines flavours in layman's terms), the plate has almost as much impact as the 'actual' flavour of the food! We certainly didn't know that dessert served on a white plate tastes 10% sweeter than one on a black plate! Would you believe that the difference is even more distinct when a square or angular plate is used (who knew corners reduced the sweetness?!?)!

We may be more familiar with this than we realise - have you ever marvelled at the creations of celebrity chef Heston Blumenthal? Do remember that there were sounds of the seaside playing in the background when the dish was presented? One of his latest creations - bacon and egg ice cream - may sound a little odd but alongside the sizzle of frying rashers, it's quite palatable!

Now you can stop wondering why your meal came on a square white plate while your partners was on a round, black one! The flavours and taste of the meals are very important to our Smiths chefs - this recent insight has us looking forward to seeing what the next creations will be now that there's this wee insight into culinary thought!