Introductory discussion: (beginning of chapter)

• Ask students to brainstorm the 5 senses in class as an introduction to the chapter. Next, prompt the students to distinguish the perception of flavor from the five senses.
  • It is helpful for students to brainstorm and identity specific flavors.
  • One particularly salient example is a “white space” flavor, one that does not exist in nature but is familiar to people. While examples are dependent on the context, the following prompts may be helpful:
    • What is your favorite type of sports drink (like Gatorade)? Identify flavors and distinguish from the fruit the flavor is intended to conjure.
    • Blue-raspberry is another good example if students need prompting
    • Reference https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2009/11/23/the-taste-makers
  • If resources permit, it can be useful to bring examples of candy or beverages with “white space” flavors to class for students to taste and discuss.
• This discussion can be extended by asking students to consider how they know about and recognize these flavors if they do not exist in nature.
  • When were they first exposed to the flavor?
  • What areas of the brain are required to form the memory of that flavor and identify it upon future exposures?

Chapter 6 Learning Objectives

• Describe the processes of sensation and perception in our experience with flavor.
• Explain the processes of gustation:
  • Diagram the gustatory pathway from receptors to cortex
  • Identify the primary tastants and their critical purpose
  • Explain individual variability in taste sensitivity and the contributors
• Explain the processes of olfaction:
  • Diagram the gustatory pathway from receptors to cortex
  • Describe the combinatorial nature of odor detection and perception
  • Explain the characteristics of odor-evoked memory and the role of the olfactory pathway
• Synthesize an explanation of the contributors to flavor perception
  • Define the components of flavor and their multisensory nature
  • Integrate bottom-up and top-down processes to explain flavor perception

Activities 

Taste Sensitivity

Recipe Perception Dissection

Peripheral Cues and Taste Sensation

Escoffier and the Essence of Taste 

The Power of Smell in Consumption 

Food Aesthetics in Practice