Have you ever wondered why some people like bland, unseasoned food? Ryan and I err on the side of overspicing. We love rich espresso, dark chocolate, kalamata olives, aged white cheddar, garlic, chili peppers, curry, and dry red wine. This, we just discovered, is because we are non-tasters.
The book Harmony on the Palate, which is primarily about wine pairings, has a test you can take to find out if you are a non-taster (25% of the population), a medium-taster (50%) or a super-taster (25%). Essentially, our perception of taste is based on how many taste buds we have. Super-tasters have more taste buds than medium- and non-tasters. To a super-taster, the things Ryan and I like to eat are too intense.
The test is simple: Place one of those ring stickers used to reinforce the holes in binder paper on your tongue, near the front but not on the tip. Then use a q-tip to put a drop of blue food coloring inside the circle. Then you need a magnifying mirror (or a mirror and a magnifying glass) and look at your tongue. Pink dots appear through the blue dye. These are the fungiform papillae that contain taste buds. So you just count up how many of the pink dots you can see inside the circle. More than 35 means you’re a super-taster, 15-35 means you’re a medium taster, and less than 15 makes you a non-taster. I had about 10 which makes me a non-taster. You get a nice blue dot on your tongue when you take the test, which is a nice bonus.
So I guess this means that we can’t call people wusses for not being able to handle spicy foods because genetically, they just have more taste buds. And besides, the name “super-taster” makes them kind of sound like a hero so I wouldn’t mess with them.
The book also explains the proper way to have a wine tasting – the science behind the swish, the spit and all the other pretentious wine snobbery. I really like the wine aroma wheel. Ryan is effortlessly descriptive (see his description of my raw sushi in this post) but I need some prompting and the wheel helps. “This wine is mushroomy with a little yoghurt and the essence of cut green grass” for example. Good recipes, too. Makes a great wedding gift (that’s how we got it).
Is it too early for a glass of the red now?
COOL. (grocery list: reinforcements, blue food colouring). Garren thought he was a super-taster and so claimed he could taste the grow-dirt and the level of rot in raw veg. But this test will determine how true that is! – afterall he does like all those non-taster foods. This totally turns upsidedown my view of my perceived superior taste (heh).
oooo how interesting. in elementary school i did a science project on tastebuds based on some book i read. i made a tongue from clay to show the different types of tastebuds and where they are on your tongue. then i had samples of the various flavours and i would place a drop on a couple spots and see if they would taste one flavour more strongly in a specific area compared to another. it didn’t work. years later i read somewhere else that that theory had been wrong. our tastebuds are evenly distributed.
I just learned about this in my Baking Science Class. Very Cool, I am a supertaster.
I disagree with this article. I am and always have been a super-taster. Yet I love all of the foods you mentioned that you like as a non-taster. I love to spice my food. The only foods that are too strong for me are foods that include MSG, such as doritos.
I don’t really see the connection between the number of taste buds and wether you are a super- or a non-taster. The taste buds pick up only the basic five different tastes – sweet, salty, sour, bitter and umami which is the japanese word for MSG. The main part in the perception of an aroma is the nose. Just try biting into an onion with your nose pinched close, it’ll taste like an apple. Supertaster or not. Because the sharp onion taste that makes your eyes water is percieved through the nose rather than on the tounge. And being one of those supertasters will surely affect how salty or sour you like your food. For things with complex tastes like spices I’m in doubt whether it has any real influence at all.
Fair enough. I just thought it was an interesting concept.
My husband is a super taster, to the point where flavors that are too complex make him physically sick. He’s also considered an “adult picky eater”. I’m definitely a non-taster. We’re at opposite ends of the spectrum basically. I just really like “strong” foods, but his situation is extreme.
He’s converted me almost 100% to plain fast food though. Plain hot dogs, hamburgers, etc. I used to feel like I HAD to have all possible condiments on there. Now I can’t stomach any of it. Salt on french fries only. Cheese and bacon on burgers but that’s it.
On the flip side I’ve managed to introduce him to a few things- like the wonderful world of cinnamon, bacon on hamburgers, salad (which he eats with no dressing). It’s a big deal for someone like him. We’re actually working on a documentary – attempting to break his (partly psychological) food barrier.
Check this out… the super taster test
http://supertastertest.com/
I can taste Ron Paul.
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thats interesting. how do you explain cultural preference or dislike of strong flavors, spicy foods, espresso, etc. Are all cajuns, thai, italians, etc. just sufferers of few taste bud itis??? I think not…
Interesting indeed. I suppose it explains why people couldn’t really handle certain tastes like wasabi or chili peppers all depending of the number of taste buds. It seems the super tasters are the most sensitive to which taste or flavor, it’d be interesting to hear what they have to say when tasting something bland or supposedly tasteless.
Have you heard the silly kids song by They Might Be Giants about Super-Tasters?
It’s pretty cute and this just got it stuck in my head :p
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2wYbOhGD5jQ
Partly in relation to what nonlovessuper said: I have the same problem with becoming physically sick from certain complex tastes–had a dish of really good tortellini last year but the strong cooked spinach plus the creamy sauce with a strong cheese literally made me vomit after just a few bites. It was extremely sad.
However, I’ve gotten a lot better since I was young, as I’ve slowly branched out, and yes, part of it was definitely psychological. I’m a supertaster but part of the problem is that I was raised eating very bland food for the most part, and I wasn’t forced to start appreciating other kinds of tastes until I traveled in Central America. Now I very much like spicy food and have learned to handle much more complex combinations than I could when I was young, but a lot of sauces and a lot of vegetables cause trouble for me, as well as certain meats like lamb and sausages. Texture definitely seems to play a part as well. But you can definitely get better! Good luck to the two of you.