{"product_id":"gastrophysics-isbn-9780735223479","title":"Gastrophysics","description":"\u003cb\u003eThe science behind a good meal: all the sounds, sights, and tastes that make us like what we're eating—and want to eat more.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWhy do we consume 35 percent more food when eating with one other person, and 75 percent more when dining with three? How do we explain the fact that people who like strong coffee drink more of it under bright lighting? And why does green ketchup just not work?\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e The answer is gastrophysics, the new area of sensory science pioneered by Oxford professor Charles Spence. Now he's stepping out of his lab to lift the lid on the entire eating experience\u003cb\u003e—\u003c\/b\u003ehow the taste, the aroma, and our overall enjoyment of food are influenced by all of our senses, as well as by our mood and expectations.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e The pleasures of food lie mostly in the mind, not in the mouth. Get that straight and you can start to understand what really makes food enjoyable, stimulating, and, most important, memorable. Spence reveals in amusing detail the importance of all the “off the plate” elements of a meal: the weight of cutlery, the color of the plate, the background music, and much more. Whether we’re dining alone or at a dinner party, on a plane or in front of the TV, he reveals how to understand what we’re tasting and influence what others experience.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e This is accessible science at its best, fascinating to anyone in possession of an appetite. Crammed with discoveries about our everyday sensory lives, \u003ci\u003eGastrophysics\u003c\/i\u003e is a book guaranteed to make you look at your plate in a whole new way.“A chatty whirl through the latest discoveries and their real-world applications, roughly organized by the five senses and different dining situations, Mr. Spence’s book is far from a systematic treatise on gastrophysics.”\u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003e—Wall St Journal\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e “[A] delicious explainer”\u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003e—Real Simple \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e \"Fascinating...[Spence] considers everything from marketing and cognitive neuroscience to design and behavioral economics to get the scoop on how our brains process the food on our plate.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e—PureWow\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e“Spence has a light touch and a knack for framing research questions in provocative headings: 'What's the link,' he asks, 'between the humble tomato and aircraft noise?' It's a question worth pondering should you have the dubious pleasure of being served an in-flight meal, just as you'll learn here why the barista at Starbucks puts your name on the cup (hint: it's not really a memory aid for said barista). A sharp, engaging education for food consumers and a font of ideas for restaurateurs and chefs as well.\"—\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eKirkus \u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“If simply changing the name of a dish on a menu or the color of the plate on which it is served can dramatically alter our perception of taste and food quality, then everyone in the restaurant industry needs to read this and take a deeper look at the scientific secrets Professor Spence reveals in \u003ci\u003eGastrophysics\u003c\/i\u003e.”—\u003cb\u003eLarry Olmsted, \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e bestselling author of \u003ci\u003eReal Food, Fake Food: What You Don’t Know About What You’re Eating \u0026amp; What You Can Do About It\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Popular science at its best. Insightful, entertainingly written and peppered throughout with facts you can use in the kitchen, in the classroom, or in the pub.\"—\u003cb\u003eDaniel J. Levitin, \u003ci\u003eNew York Times \u003c\/i\u003ebestselling author of \u003ci\u003eThe Organized Mind\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eThis Is Your Brain on Music\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Spence allows people to appreciate the multisensory experience of eating.”—\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe New Yorker\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e “Not many people are as ready to realize the importance of the senses as Charles Spence.”—\u003cb\u003eFerran Adrià, El Bulli restaurant, Spain\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e“Can’t fail to entertain, inform, and dazzle.”—\u003cb\u003eHeston Blumenthal, The Fat Duck restaurant, UK\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“A fascinating look at the science of food and how our perception is shaped by all our senses, not just taste.”—\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eSunday Times \u003c\/i\u003e(UK)\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Gastrophysics serves up a mind-bending menu of fascinating insights.”\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003e—Observer \u003c\/i\u003e(UK)\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003eCharles Spence\u003c\/b\u003e is the head of the Crossmodal Research Laboratory at the University of Oxford. He has consulted for multinational companies including Toyota and ICI, advising on various aspects of multisensory design, packaging, and branding. He has featured frequently in \u003ci\u003eTime, The Wall Street Journal\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eThe New Yorker\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eThe Boston Globe\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eThe Washington Post, Forbes\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eBarron's\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003eThe Atlantic\u003c\/i\u003e. He is the co-author, with Betina Piqueras-Fiszman, of a college textbook, \u003ci\u003eThe Perfect Meal. \u003c\/i\u003e1. Taste\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Can you list all of the basic tastes? There is sweet, sour, salty      and bitter, for sure. But anything else? Nowadays, most      researchers would include umami as the fifth taste. Umami, meaning      \"delicious taste,\" was first discovered back in 1908 by Japanese      researcher Kikunae Ikeda. This taste is imparted by glutamic acid,      an amino acid, and is most commonly associated with monosodium      glutamate, itself a derivative of glutamic acid. Some would be      tempted to throw metallic, fatty acid, kokumi and as many as      fifteen other basic tastes into the mix as well-though even I      haven't heard of most of them. And some researchers query whether      there are even any \"basic\" tastes at all!\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e The mistake that many people make, though, when talking about food      and drink is to mention things like fruity, meaty, herbal,      citrusy, burned, smoky and even earthy as tastes. But these are      not tastes. Strictly speaking, they are flavors. Don't worry, most      people are unaware of this distinction. But how do you tell the      difference? Well, hold your nose closed-and what is left is taste      (at least assuming that you are not tasting something with a      trigeminal hit, like chili or menthol, which activate the      trigeminal nerve). So if we struggle to get the basics straight,      what hope is there when it comes to some of the more complex      interactions taking place between the senses? Taste would be      simple, if it weren't so complicated!\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Do you mean taste or do you mean flavor        (and does it really matter)?\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Most of what people call taste is actually flavor, and many of the      things that they describe as flavors turn out, on closer      inspection, to be tastes. Some languages manage to sidestep the      issue by using the same word for both taste and flavor. In fact,      in English, what we really need is to create a new word-and that      neologism is \"flave.\" \"I love the flave of that Roquefort\" would      do the trick. Let's see whether it catches on. There are also      challenges here from those stimuli that lie on the periphery. Just      take menthol, the minty note you get when chewing gum: is it a      taste, a smell or a flavor? Well, all three, in fact; and it also      gives rise to a distinctive mouth-cooling sensation. The metallic      sensation we get when we taste blood also has the researchers      scratching their heads in terms of whether it should be classified      as a basic taste, an aroma, a flavor or some combination of the      above.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Most people have heard of the \"tongue map.\" In fact, pretty much      every textbook on the senses published over the last seventy-five      years or so includes mention of it. The basic idea is that we all      taste sweet at the front of the tongue, bitter only at the back,      sour at the side, etc. However, the textbooks are wrong: your      tongue does not work like that! This widespread misconception      resulted from a mistranslation of the findings of an early German      PhD thesis that appeared in a popular North American psychology      textbook written by Edwin Boring in 1942. So now we have got that      cleared up, let me ask, do you actually have any idea how the      receptors are laid out on your tongue? No, I didn't think so.      Something so fundamental, so important to our survival, and yet      none of us really has a clue about how it all works. Shocking, no?\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e The taste receptors are not evenly distributed, but neither are      they perfectly segmented as the oft-cited tongue map would have us      believe. The answer, as is so often the case, lies somewhere in      between. Each taste bud is responsive to all five of the basic      tastes. But these taste buds are primarily found on the front part      of the tongue, on the sides toward the rear of the tongue and on      the back of the tongue.There are no taste buds in the middle of      the tongue. Interestingly, though, many people (including chefs)      tend to say that they experience sweetness more toward the tip of      the tongue, they feel the sourness on the sides of the tongue and      bitterness\/astringency often seems more noticeable toward the back      of the tongue. And for me, a pure umami solution has a      mouth-filling quality to it that none of the other tastes can      quite match.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e The real question, though, is how have so many people been so      wrong for so long? Part of the reason may be due to the general      neglect of the \"lower\" senses by research scientists. Another      factor probably relates to the \"tricks\" that our mind plays on us      when constructing flavor percepts, things like \"oral referral\" and      \"smelled sweetness\" (about which more later). As we will see time      and again throughout this and the following chapter, in the mouth,      very little is as it seems.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Managing expectations\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Why, you might well ask, does a cook-be they a modernist chef      working in a high-end Michelin-starred restaurant or you slaving      away in the kitchen preparing for your next dinner party-need to      know about what is going on in the mind of the diners they serve?      Why not simply rely on the skills that are taught in the culinary      schools or picked up from watching those endless cookery shows on      TV? Why not focus on the seasonality, the sourcing, the      preparation, and possibly also the presentation of the ingredients      on the plate? That is all you need, isn't it? As a      gastrophysicist, I know just how important it is to get inside the      mind of the diner in order to understand and manage their      expectations about food. It is only by combining the best food      with the right expectations that any of us can hope to deliver      truly great tasting experiences.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e It really excites me to see a growing number of young chefs      starting to think more carefully about feeding their diners' minds      and not just their mouths. I'm sure this is largely down to the      influential role of star chefs like Ferran Adriˆ and Heston      Blumenthal, both of whom I have been lucky enough to work with.      Where they lead, others surely follow. But that still doesn't      answer the more fundamental question of what got the top chefs      interested in the minds of their diners in the first place. After      all, this certainly isn't something that they teach you at cookery      school.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e In Heston's case, it all started with an ice cream. In the late      90s, Heston created a crab ice cream to accompany a crab risotto.      The top chef liked the taste and, after a little tinkering,      believed it to be perfectly seasoned. But what would the diners      say? (Typically, any new dish is trialed in the research kitchen      across the road from the restaurant. Then, once it has met with      Heston's approval-a slow and exacting process-the next step is to      try the new dish out on a few of the regulars and see how they      like it. Only if a dish passes all of these hurdles will it stand      a chance of making its way on to the restaurant's tasting menu.)\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Imagine the scene: just like in one of the chef's TV shows, you      can almost see Heston looking on expectantly from the kitchens,      waiting for the diners' approval as his latest culinary creation      is brought out to the guinea pigs sitting at the tables. Surely      the diners will think it tastes great, given who made it. But, in      this case at least, the response was not what was expected.      \"Urrrggghhh! That's disgusting. It's way too salty.\" Well, maybe I      exaggerate a little-but trust me, the response wasn't good.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e What had gone wrong? How could one of the world's top chefs      consider a dish to taste just right only to have some of his      regular guests find it far too salty? The answer, I think, tells      us a lot about the importance of expectations in our experiences      of food and drink. In other words, it is as much a matter of what      is in the mind of the person doing the tasting as what is in their      mouth or on the plate. When the diners saw that pinkish-red ice      cream (this was also evaluated in the lab with a smoked salmon ice      cream), their minds immediately made a prediction about what they      had been given to eat. Tell me, what would you expect to taste      were such a dish to be placed before you?\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e For most Westerners, pinkish-red in what looks like a frozen        dessert is associated with a sweet fruity ice cream, probably      strawberry flavor. \"Sweet, fruity, I like it, but it isn't so good      for me\"-all that goes through a diner's mind in the blink of the      eye. After all, one of our brain's primary jobs is to try to      figure out which foods are nutritious and worth paying attention      to (and perhaps climbing a tree for), and which are potentially      poisonous and hence best avoided. However, on the rare occasions      when our predictions turn out to be wrong, the surprise, or      \"disconfirmation of expectation,\" that follows can come as quite a      shock. It can, in fact, be rather unpleasant. The diners in      Heston's restaurant presumably thought that they were going to      taste something sweet, but what was brought out from the kitchen      was actually a savory frozen ice. In other words, they were      expecting strawberry and got frozen crab bisque instead! The      savory ice may have been popular in England a century ago, but it      has very much fallen out of favor these days.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e In a great series of gastrophysics experiments, Martin Yeomans and      his team at the University of Sussex, together with Heston, showed      that it was possible to radically influence people's perception      and liking of the frozen pink treat simply by changing the name of      the dish. All it took to modify the participants' expectations in      the lab setting was to tell them that this was a savory ice, or      else give the dish the mysterious title \"Food 386.\" The      expectations that go with the name or description of the dish led      people to enjoy the ice cream significantly more than those who      had not been told anything about the dish before tasting it.      Crucially, they no longer found it too salty either.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Research suggests that our first exposure to a flavor affects      those that come thereafter, even once we know exactly what it is      that we are tasting. And though the effects may not always be as      dramatic as in the case of Heston's pink savory ice cream, we have      probably all had our own experience of this. I still remember, on      my first trip to Japan, fifteen years ago, buying a pale-green ice      cream from a street vendor. It was a hot spring day and everyone      seemed to have one of these refreshing-looking ices in their      hands. I had absolutely no doubt that it was mint-flavored, just      as it would be back in the U.K. But I recoiled in shock on tasting      what turned out to be something most unexpected; it was, in fact,      green-tea-flavored ice cream. Delicious in its way, but I must      confess that I have somehow never been able to quite get over that      initial surprise whenever I am served a bowl in Japan.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Whatever the name and\/or description of a dish, and no matter what      it looks like, these cues are always there, helping to set our      expectations. And those expectations influence our judgments and      perception, however subtly. Even when cooking at home, how those      you serve experience your food is as much a matter of what is      going on in their minds as it is a matter of what they put in      their mouths. However, it is not just the color and other visual      properties of food that set our expectations.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e What's in a name?\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Imagine yourself in a fancy restaurant, scanning the menu for      something to eat. You already know that you want fish, but which      one? Now, let's suppose you came across Patagonian toothfish.      Would you order it? No, I didn't think so. Nor, for that matter,      did anyone else. Sales of this veritable \"monster of the deep\" had      been disappointing for years. No matter how chefs prepared it,      diners just turned their noses up and chose something else      instead. Their eyes would continue scanning down the menu, looking      for something that sounded, how shall I put it, a little more      enticing.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Would the response be different, do you think, if they were to      come across Chilean sea bass on the menu? It certainly sounds a      lot more appealing, doesn't it? The thing is, though, that these      two names refer to one and the same fish! Sales of this currently      sustainable fish have increased by well over 1,000%-yes, that's      three zeros-in a number of markets around the world (including      North America, the U.K. and Australia). The trick was simple: just      change the name. This is one of the most impressive examples of      \"nudging by naming,\" as the behavioral economists like to call it.      In fact, in no time at all, this fish started appearing on the      menus of all the best restaurants, a trend that, even today, shows      no signs of letting up. Once again, it is what is in the diner's      mind, and the associations they make with different labels or      descriptions that are crucial here.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e The frozen crab bisque\/smoked salmon ice cream and Patagonian      toothfish cases are exceptional: they have, in fact, been chosen      to make a particular point-about the importance of naming to our      experience of food. Nevertheless, look around and one finds many      everyday examples demonstrating much the same point. Have you ever      wondered, for instance, why golden rainbow trout is so much more      popular than regular brown trout? The traditionally trained chef's      mind may immediately start to ponder differences in taste or      texture, or perhaps to consider how the fish was dispatched. But      why stop there? When was the last time you ate an ugli fruit (the      result of the hybridization of a grapefruit-or pomelo-an orange      and a tangerine)? Exactly. You have to wonder how much more      popular this member of the citrus family could be had it been      given another name. The decline in popularity of everything from      faggots to pollack and Spotted Dick in recent years can, at least      in part, be put down to their unfortunate names.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Great expectations\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Some of you may already be wondering whether you could use the      same naming \"tricks\" to enhance people's perception of whatever      food or beverage product you happen to be serving. Unfortunately,      though, I very much doubt that you will be able to increase sales      of most everyday foods by anything like as much as the Patagonian      toothfish-sorry, Chilean sea bass-example might lead one to      believe. Nor, unless you have had your head very firmly stuck in      the modernist cookbooks, will the colors of the dishes you prepare      at home give as misleading an impression of the actual taste or      flavor to come as the pinkish-red hue of Heston's frozen treat      undoubtedly did. No one will, I presume, get the wrong end of the      stick on seeing whatever you might be thinking of serving at your      next dinner party. The colors of the foods we prepare normally      give a pretty reliable indicator of the probable tasting      experience. It is mostly in the modernist restaurant or when in      parts foreign that things start to go awry. So relax!","brand":"Penguin Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46304170639589,"sku":"NP9780735223479","price":19.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9780735223479.jpg?v=1767727895","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/es\/products\/gastrophysics-isbn-9780735223479","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}