TASTING WITHOUT TASTE

What is it?

Imagine waking up and you are unable to smell your morning coffee (and your darling’s morning breath). Or you cannot taste the delicious burger that you were so looking forward to tasting and it suddenly makes you lose your appetite. This is what many people all over the world experienced in the past year.

Half of the patients that suffered Covid-19 lost their taste and smell, of which a large group had lost it for a longer period of time, (some still don’t have it back to date). Besides, when you lose taste after a Covid-19 infection, there are numerous other causes that contribute to the loss of smell and taste. For instance, hypoguisia is a taste-disorder that is seen after a chemo-therapy treatment. Furthermore, it is common to lose your sense of taste as you grow older. This illness is known as hyposmia.

It looks like we must deal with taste loss as it occurs often and use it to our advantage. Several chefs around the globe have engineered appetizing meals targeted at individuals who experience taste loss. One of the chefs is Jos Grootscholten from the Netherlands. Jos Grootscholten is a Michelin star chef and is working together with his team of restaurant ‘t Perceel on a special menu that can be presented to their guests. These top class meals focus on the mouthfeel like different temperatures and textures, the presentation and especially over-using spicy and sour ingredients as these are aromas that have proven to trigger taste.

Why is it cool?

• It’s offering a new dining experience of ‘tasting without taste’. It will cater the desire to eat delicious food again, without needing your taste buds. Isn’t that cool?!
• In this menu intense textures and mouth feelings are of high importance, more than in a regular menu. This will allow ‘regular guests’ to explore those elements as well, creating a new dining experience for all.
• The demand is rapidly increasing as more people lose their taste and still want to experience eating delicious food.

Why does it have future growth potential?

Scientists predict that the number of people experiencing taste loss is on the rise, fortunately, eating is not just about tasting, it is about the fun had through the cooking process and prepping time. It’s about laughing with friends and family, with ABBA music blaring through the music stereo.

It is important to hang the garlands yourself and make eating fun. Chefs use their experience to create menus that trigger the ‘lazy’ buds. Eating without taste will become fun again and it is something you don’t want to miss!