I have a question.

[conuly]

An unanswerable question, to be sure, but listen anyway.

I like certain foods. Other people dislike some of the foods I like, while I dislike foods that *they* like. Do the foods I dislike actually taste different to me than they do to the people who like them?

Comments

[bridgetester.livejournal.com]

Quite possibly, yes, they do taste different. I read an article that said everyone's smell receptors are different (i.e. different sets of them are active, and no one has all of them active) and small is very closely related to taste.

[conuly]

Most of "taste" isn't taste at all, in fact. Depending on how you count them up, there are anywhere from 4-6 tastes, right? (Richness is one we generally don't include, and spiciness.... other people do though)

[beccak1961.livejournal.com]

My sister in law doesn't like honey. She once said it had a bitter taste, so I know we are tasting it the same.
A lot of people, my husband included, like splenda, can't tell it isn't sugar. For me it has this off taste in everything I try with it. So yes, I think maybe it does actually taste different.

[eclectic-1.livejournal.com]

Yes and no. They have proven that some tastes vary due to genetic diversity. I remember in biology, we all tasted a substance (I forget what it was) that most people said tasted like aspirin, but about 25% of the class could not taste it at all. They've also discovered some people are super-tasters, tasting things much more acutely, while some people are at the other end of the spectrum needing a lot of something for it to make an impression.

I was reading an article recently about how taste changes as you grow. Children tend to taste bitter much more strongly than adults, which would explain why parents have a hard time getting kids to eat vegetables.

Did you know a baby under three months can not taste sour? My oldest daughter used to love sucking on plain lemons, until those taste buds developed.

On the other hand, taste can be developed. I can't even begin to list the things I used to not like that I like now. One of the weirdest ones was horseradish. I never liked horseradish, but then one day I had a craving for it. I've liked it ever since (at least in cocktail sauce form).

I've often had a similar thought about colors. Who's to say what I see when I see blue is the same thing you see when you see blue? The brain is a mysterious place.

[bastardsword.livejournal.com]

I know some people can taste PTC, some can't-- another substance that I think is called benzoate something also plays a role. Basically, they found that people who said that one or the other tasted salty tended to like sauerkraut. So yup, certain foods will actually taste different.

-Kimothy

[eofs.livejournal.com]

I'm convinced I can taste alcohol, despite what's always said about it being tasteless.

[griffen.livejournal.com]

I think it tastes differently to different people - and it isn't just taste, it can be texture and smell too. I dislike the taste of hominy (to me it tastes dusty) but most people can't taste that. And Danny can't stand celery, because to him it tastes bitter.

A lot of people say cilantro tastes like soap to them. I pity them - I love cilantro.

[kibbles.livejournal.com]

I wonder the same thing about color.

[leora.livejournal.com]

Half my household has the genetic mutation that makes cilantro taste really horrid to them. When I am seriously dehydrated, I can drink sweetened iced tea and it won't taste horrid. As I'm drinking and hydrating, it starts to taste more and more disgusting. When I can't bear to drink the sickly sweet stuff anymore, I figure I'm sufficiently hydrated.

[leora.livejournal.com]

Cilantro is a genetic mutation. You can either taste it as okay or as soapy and icky, but it's purely genetic.

[ex-chaos-by-699.livejournal.com]

Interesting. I find the taste of cilantro impossible to describe. The best I can do is say that to me it tastes green and slightly metallic.

I can take it or leave it, which seems rather unusual. Most people seem to have very strong feelings about it, one way or the other.

[leora.livejournal.com]

Nah, just unusual among those who bother to talk about it. I can take it or leave it too. Although now that it's been so strongly pointed out to me, I'm starting to dislike it. I can taste the soapiness when I think about it, but I don't have the mutation as I can and have eaten cilantro with no problems doing so. It's easier to taste the elements that others find objectionable if you taste a bunch of cilantro plain.

I think either they miss the other elements that mute that or they taste that element far more strongly and it overpowers everything else.

Kind of like black olives or anise do for me. They're strong, disgusting, and they taint anything else around them.

[bridgetester.livejournal.com]

Alcohol is definitely not tasteless, and I'd be interested to see sources for people who say it is. *makes face*

[rainbow-goddess.livejournal.com]

I always thought it was just that certain people don't like certain tastes while other people like them, just like certain people like some colours and certain people hate some colours. However, from reading the comments so far, it appears that things do taste differently for different people, so who knows?

[eofs.livejournal.com]

Yay, someone else!

I'd love to have proof that I could hand people. For one thing it should get people off my back who think I should drink alcohol. I think my parents just about believe me by now, by my ability to taste food and say "this has alcohol in it." I was eating 'vanilla' ice cream 6 months ago and identified it as containing alcohol on my first bite. I persevered, trying to enjoy it alongside my rather rich brownie, but eventually Dad had to finish it for me. He immediately concurred that yes, it obviously had ammerretto in it.

[ex-chaos-by-699.livejournal.com]

I love anise. Black olives though...ew. They also taste kinda metallic to me.

The food I probably hate most (other than chicken liver) is baked beans. They honestly smell very similar to feces to me.

[bridgetester.livejournal.com]

I just remember the taste of cough medicine...

I can deal with some alcohol when it's covered with chocolate/sugar (amaretto/kahlua), but I prefer without. Likewise with cider.

[bridgetester.livejournal.com]

Mmm, Olives. I'm not a big fan of any beans but green beans though, part taste and part texture.

[ser-kai.livejournal.com]

I have that mutation, I suppose. Coriander(cilantro) leaves taste like soap to me and noone else seems to get that.Ground coriander is fine, though.

Thanks for the explanation.

[ser-kai.livejournal.com]

I get that metallic taste very strongly.

[ex-chaos-by-699.livejournal.com]

Yeah, ground coriander is completely different from cilantro. Ground coriander is made from the seeds, and cilantro is the leafy part.

Lindt makes a great holiday bar that uses cinnamon and coriander. Yum.

[ser-kai.livejournal.com]

Here they're all identified as coriander, being part of the same plant.

[marveen.livejournal.com]

I thought richness was more an issue of mouthfeel than taste.

I'll concede the "hot" taste, or spiciness as you've called it.

[marveen.livejournal.com]

And vodka doesn't leave you breathless, either.

I'm a supertaster, and when I was younger garnered heavy criticism from my parents and peers for eating unadorned "bland" foods. I was enjoying the subtle flavors, you see.

I can smell the metabolizing alcohol from one beer twelve hours ago. (A guy at the gym was claiming that he hadn't drunk any, I sniffed and said "Yes, you did". It wasn't a serious arguement, fortunately.) I can smell someone using DMSO a mile away (and wish I couldn't).

[beetlebomb.livejournal.com]

Fascinating. From what I understand, it's not just an issue of taste but an issue of texture too. Although she likes pizza my best friend can't stand anything else with melted cheese. She can't stand peanut butter or Nutella either, yet she loves peanut butter cups. My cousins from Holland loved meatballs, but they hate hamburgers, whereas to me a hamburger is basically a flattened meatball between two hunks of bread. THey don't like milkshakes either but they love ice cream. THere aren't many things I don't like although tripe and liver make me gag. TO me tripe is like trying to chew a dirty washcloth! I sometimes IM on the chatroom with an autistic girl who is so sensitive to the texture of food in her mouth that she can't stand eating and has to be tube-fed.