Taste (in the mouth)
Feb. 11th, 2013 06:10 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
fabrisseThose of you who have eaten with me in restaurants know that I can occasionally answer questions about the spicing of a meal from just a couple of bites. Mostly, it's because I trained my palate at a relatively young age as I was learning to cook. I also have a difficult time with artificial sweeteners, though. Saccharine has a dirty aftertaste. Inverted sugars like Splenda taste like evil. Aspartame is not sweet at all and a little funky tasting.
From a few things I read, this might mean that I was a "supertaster" -- someone who is very sensitive to flavors on the tongue, especially bitter.
I paid the $4 and sent off for my test. You put a little strip of paper on your tongue for a few seconds and see what it tastes like to you. Normal tasters find it mildly bitter and non-tasters find it bland. Guess what? I am a supertaster. It was so bitter I could barely stand it and now, ten minutes later, I still want to shave my tongue to get the flavor out of my mouth.
I suppose it's good to know that my secret superpower is a mixture of training and innate talent, but right now I just want the taste to go away.
From a few things I read, this might mean that I was a "supertaster" -- someone who is very sensitive to flavors on the tongue, especially bitter.
I paid the $4 and sent off for my test. You put a little strip of paper on your tongue for a few seconds and see what it tastes like to you. Normal tasters find it mildly bitter and non-tasters find it bland. Guess what? I am a supertaster. It was so bitter I could barely stand it and now, ten minutes later, I still want to shave my tongue to get the flavor out of my mouth.
I suppose it's good to know that my secret superpower is a mixture of training and innate talent, but right now I just want the taste to go away.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2013-02-12 02:01 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-02-12 04:26 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-02-12 03:34 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-02-12 04:26 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-02-12 12:57 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-02-12 01:02 pm (UTC)Looking at the site, I just don't know. It says they dislike super sugary or super fatty tasting stuff and that fits. C hates the taste of butter. It makes her gag. She dislikes many super sugary things. For example, she says any kind of doughnut except the plain old fashioned kind (or maybe with powdered sugar or powdered cinnamon) are too sweet, yuck, and give her headache after a single bite. [ETA: But then again, she'll eat a spoonful of frosting out of the can if I let her, and chocolate is rapidly consumed, and ice cream, too.]
BUT then it goes on to say they won't like grapefruit juice--haven't tried that, but she enjoys grapefruits (if I put some sugar on them *shifty eyes*) or dark chocolate, and she loves dark chocolate.
She dislikes pretty much all veggies and green beans are especially foul to her. She used to gag on those even when she was an infant.
Hmm. It might be interesting to try. I'll ask her about it. See if she's interested.
no subject
Date: 2013-02-12 02:08 pm (UTC)I like grapefruit and bitter greens (though, that taste was acquired in adulthood), so I think for many of us, once we get over how *strong* the flavor is, we can learn to like it.
Artichokes are a good vegetable for supertasters. Very little bitterness, and there's an after taste of sweet when you drink milk after it.
I HATED green beans when I was a kid, but I loved asparagus and brussel sprouts (and coffee ice cream and dark chocolate), so I think interesting and balanced flavors have a chance to win her over even if there's underlying bitterness.
Some people say to put sweet on tongue to combat bitter
Date: 2013-02-14 03:21 am (UTC)