TASTE IS CHEMISTRY
It begins when a food molecule touches a microscopic taste bud on the tongue. The buds hide inside papillae, the pale dots made visible here by blue food coloring. In the brain, where taste merges with other senses, it becomes the rich, personal, joyful experience that makes us long to eat.
FEASTING THE EYES, EARS, AND NOSE
Inspired by research showing that flavor comes from more than our taste buds, Heston Blumenthal, owner of the Fat Duck restaurant in Bray, England, practices “multisensory cooking.” These diners are enjoying a dish of razor clams, cockles, salty foam, and “edible sand,” made from tapioca starch, panko, and baby eels. They’re listening to crashing waves and crying seagulls on iPod Nanos concealed inside shells. On the menu it’s called “Sound…