Our sense of taste and experience of flavor doesn’t just involve our taste buds, which most people know. Our sense of smell adds a lot to the equation, and one company decided to make the experimental process of this concept pretty fun with the “Aroma R-evolution” kit.
It comes with four forks, which have a little spot for you to insert a paper tab with one of the aromas on it, and 21 vials full of scents like ranging from wasabi to smoke. The idea is that the smell you choose will affect your perception of whatever it is that you’re eating.
“The fork is designed not so much to use as an everyday utensil but rather, a tool to experiment,” explains Sophie Bovin of Molecule-R, the company that makes these kits. “It’s interesting to try classic pairings.”
The Top Surgical Instruments Needed for Extractions
Discover what tools are essential for efficient, safe surgical extractions in today’s health care landscape, from elevators to forceps and beyond.
The folks at NPR’s The Salt decided to purchase a kit and try it out. Chocolate ice cream with the wasabi scent was a hit. But overall, the experience wasn’t as successful as they’d hoped, partly because smelling the aromas on the paper tab doesn’t really really replicate how we smell things when we eat.
When we sniff something, we breathe in the chemicals responsible for scent through our nostrils. That’s called “orthonasal olfaction,” says sensory psychologist Marcia Pelchat at the Monell Chemical Senses Center. Tasting involves a different type of smelling, called retronasal olfaction. “The nose and the mouth are connected. During eating, the tongue and palette push air upward into the nose. And that’s what produces the sensation of flavor,” Pelchat says.
Read the entire review here.