Charles Spence: “Food never tastes enjoyable when we are in a bad mood”

The shape of a food, its color, its aroma, the sound it makes when chewed, and even other environmental factors such as the intensity and type of light in the room we are in, the music playing, the people accompanying us, and even our mood at that moment directly determine the taste we perceive when tasting. And as if there weren’t enough elements to take into account, we must also add cultural factors, prejudices, memories, and previous experiences. And emotions… All these issues are encompassed in a scientific discipline known as gastrophysics.

In so good.. magazine 35, we interviewed Charles Spence, the guru of gastrophysics, who advises a large number of Michelin starred chefs on the potential of gastrophysics, heads the Crossmodal Research Laboratory at the University of Oxford and has published reference works such as The Perfect Meal in 2014 and Gastrophysics: The New Science of Eating in 2017. No one is better placed than him to explore the potential that this discipline is unlocking for professionals in the culinary and patisserie fields.

Below we share an excerpt from the interview published in print. Don’t miss the full interview in so good.. magazine 35!

Discover so good.. magazine 35

Why is it important to take gastrophysics into account when designing a dish, a dessert, or a gastronomic experience?

Because even the world’s best chef can’t guarantee that their customers will like what they have created unless they know what is going on in the minds of those whom they are making food for. So much, of the success or failure of any new culinary creation depends on something other than the recipe itself. ‘How does the dish look? What is it called? How should it be plated?

Could AI be used to optimize the creation?’ All these questions, and many more, need to be addressed if one wishes to ensure that the customer, whoever he or she might be, experiences the flavour in the way that the creator intended.

To what extent has it been demonstrated that environmental factors and food presentation can alter the perception of flavour?

There is now a huge, and continuously growing, body of research demonstrating the impact of both environmental factors and food presentation, on people’s experience of flavour, not to mention on their willingness to pay for a food.

 I start both The Perfect Meal (written together with Betina Piqueras-Fiszman) and Gastrophysics books with the example of the Provençal Rose Paradox. This is the experience that resonates with everyone. For northern Europeans, we go on holiday to South of France for our holidays, the food and wine taste so delicious that we are tempted to bring some home. However, when we open that Provençal Rose wine at home on a cold winter’s night it never tastes the same. In fact, the wine is the same but the context and our mood are different. On holiday, we are likely to be relaxed and happy with our friends and family. Food never tastes enjoyable when we are in a bad mood. Similarly, while the sun on our back, the sound of the waves on the beach, and the smell of the salty sea air are not part of the flavour of the food, they can nevertheless exert a profound effect over the experience.

Similarly, the visually-appealing presentation of food is hugely important. In part, because so many of people’s food and drink choices these days are dictated by what they see on social media. In fact, it has been suggested that the recent rose wine revival, and the surge in popularity in Aperol spritz drinks has nothing to do with the flavour, and everything to do with how these drinks stand out, and the impression they give, when seen on Instagram. Or consider, how simply by serving food on unusual plateware – a flat cap, a plant pot, or perhaps even a brick will not change the taste, but may help to generate lots of free online marketing, as people can’t help but sharing images of the most unusual visual presentation.

Naming, and the use of sensory descriptive labels (like crispy, crunchy, crackly….) are really important to help enhance the customers experience of whatever they are tasting

What are the most common mistakes made in cooking and in pastry?

In the home, people often spend so much time focusing on getting their new dish or pastry creation right and never consider what they are going to call it, or how to describe it. Naming, and the use of sensory descriptive labels (like crispy, crunchy, crackly….) are really important to help enhance the customers experience of whatever they are tasting.

In my brother’s restaurant, he makes many great cakes and pastry items. I always tell him to make sure not to serve a slice of cake with the point pointing toward the customer. It might seem silly, but when an angular shape points towards us, the fear circuits in our brain light up (as our evolutionarily older brain thinks there might be a dapper or something that could hurt us) and this results in us liking the food slightly less than would otherwise have been the case. So if you have something pointy, then make sure it points away.

What is still left to discover? In your view, how might future gastrophysics research influence or transform the field of gastronomy?

Well, currently, it is really interesting to see how AI may come to influence gastronomy in the very near future. Everything from creating new recipes though to visualizing new concepts for dishes. We have been conducting largescale multi-country studies online to investigate when people trust AI recipes and when they don’t – for traditional recipes, AI is becoming more acceptable, but when it comes to creating something unusual, such as a lasagna with tomato jam, or a white Negroni cocktail, then most people still prefer it if the recipe comes from a real human.

Meanwhile, chef Jozef with whom we work closely is increasingly using AI image generation software to help to bring new culinary concepts to life. Just see, for example, the Midjourney rendering of the “Hair Repair Éclair”, a dark chocolate éclair featuring pişmaniye—a Turkish candy floss as created by AI for chef Jozef Youssef.

For traditional recipes, AI is becoming more acceptable, but when it comes to creating something unusual, most people still prefer it if the recipe comes from a real human

It is often claimed that taste is the most important element in food, while other senses—such as sight—are underestimated. From your perspective, which sense plays the most significant role in shaping the overall eating experience?

I am with Apicius, the Roman gourmand on this, the first taste really is with the eyes. That is why the food never tastes very good in a ‘dine in the dark’ restaurant, as anyone who has had the experience can attest. Visual cues set our taste expectations, everything from the colour and sheen and opacity (e.g., of a drink).

Don’t miss in the so good.. magazine 35 the full interview in which Charles Spence explains the difference between gastrophysics and neurogastronomy, discovers which professionals actively apply the knowledge provided by gastrophysics, and how colors and shapes alter the perception of sweetness, acidity, or bitterness.