Caucasiafro t1_jab6vlw wrote
That's because our sense of taste is really closely tied to our sense of smell as well.
To the point that a lot of people, unless they have been specifically trained, might not even realize that the "taste" of something is largely from an aromatic compound they are actually smelling.
That said, if you somehow perfectly got the actual flavor compounds right, and got the aromatics just right you could almost make something that at least "tastes" like the real thing.
Except then there are also things like temperature and texture/mouth feel that affect it too. So a gummy that tastes exactly like a big mac isn't going to trick anyone. Because a big mac isn't just "Big Mac flavor" it's about how two all-beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles and onions on a sesame seed bun feel in your mouth.
zeratul98 t1_jabck7x wrote
A really weird and interesting thing I learned recently is that even though your nose is doing the smelling when you eat, it's different from smelling when you inhale. People feel a different response to the same compounds when they enter the olfactory center from the back of the throat than through their nostrils
Bsmit992 t1_jabgkuj wrote
This blows my mind but makes perfect sense.
slimfaydey t1_jabgmbj wrote
man, product placement is getting more and more scientific.
DoomGoober t1_jabjtzs wrote
Add to this that the brain changes the "flavor" of food based on what it thinks the food is.
There have been experiments showing people report different flavors of food/drink based on the color of the bowl/cup the food is served in.
Obvious the color of the container doesn't actually change the food flavor but the brain takes it into account.
FarmboyJustice t1_jab9pg3 wrote
A great example of this is how food doesn't taste the same when you have a cold.
Bsmit992 t1_jabgi8b wrote
Sometimes it tastes better
valeyard89 t1_jabgllo wrote
What about the Big Mick? They don't have sesame seeds.
Caucasiafro t1_jabh4ei wrote
McDowell's might be able to pull it off.
Jamie_1318 t1_jabh4vp wrote
The space in the nostral also seems to matter. That 'fresh rain smell' primarily consists of a compound called geosmin. It smells fresh and nice from outside, but injesting it tastes moldy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_8vHsY_QVHM
Scramswitch t1_jaeqbq6 wrote
Knew someone with no sense of smell their entire life....they hated peanut butter because they said it was flavorless and felt like eating oily beach sand. its amazing how important the sense of smell is to taste
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