What Does “Delicious” Actually Stand for?

Amazing Food

Lin Weihui

Guangdong People’s Publishing House

May 2021

68.00 （CNY）

Lin Weihui

A native of Chaozhou， Guangdong， Lin Weihui graduated from School of Law at Sun Yat-sen University. He is an acclaimed food columnist， the director of the WeChat subscription account “Hui Chang Hao Chi （Hui’s Taste of Food）”， and a gastronomic consultant for the documentary Once Upon a Bite.

The famous epicure and documentary director Chen Xiaoqing’s Once Upon a Bite kicked off a wonderful journey of gastronomy， and A Bite of China which he had directed for CCTV engaged the Chinese population in a magnificent food carnival. His success motivated various national television stations to launch food and gastronomy-themed programs one after another， while food-related self-media also gained widespread popularity thanks to this trend. Personally， I was introduced to the epicure’s circle by Mr. Yan Tao， an acclaimed food connoisseur from Guangzhou， and under the influence of Mr. Chen Xiaoqing， I began to share my food experiences with my friends on social media in an attempt to figure out what defines delicious foods.

In the history of mankind， hunger has been way more prevalent than any period of food abundance. Even though three meals a day may sound very simple， it wasn’t taken for granted until the Song Dynasty （960 CE–1279 CE）. Earlier in the Tang Dynasty （618 CE–907 CE）， it was even illegal for commoners under the age of 70 to eat meat on non-festive occasions. In the 1980s， people still greeted each other by asking， “Have you eaten yet？” It wasn’t until roughly 30 years ago that the Chinese people barely managed to solve the basic survival problem of food and clothing. Hence， the fact that people are beginning to be interested in food and calling themselves “foodies” is a sign of social prosperity and progress. Bravo！

When it comes to what we deem delicious， everyone may come up with different standards; and the idiom “one man’s meat is another man’s poison” may be a good illustration of it. Many of us often reminisce about the taste of childhood and claim that our mother’s cooking is the best. This makes perfect sense： our taste preferences are already formed by the age of seven or eight， and what we eat as a child generally constitutes the tastes that we like when we grow up. In China， northerners generally consider Cantonese food to be too bland， while southerners often claim that northern food is too salty; south-westerners prefer sour and spicy， but south-easterners tend to like sweet and umami tastes; northerners eat noodles as a staple food， but southerners are much inclined towards rice. Human beings are nourished by the waters and soils of the land they live on， and their taste preferences are a reflection of their environment in this sense. Surely， it is not impossible to modify such preferences. Scientists conducted experiments to change a person’s taste preferences， and they found that it would take roughly three months during which the subjects are banned from their original taste preferences， or the time will need to be recalculated. Nevertheless， even though the taste of the food may be important， the company is equally if not more important. Whether something tastes good is a very subjective experience in itself， and our culinary experience is inevitably influenced by our state of mind. While eating with someone we like can result particularly appetizing， business banquets and forced meals are surely not as pleasant， let alone “the last supper”.

Different people may also perceive taste differently. For instance， scientists carried out an experiment in which 100 people were randomly selected to eat the same bitter food. About half of them felt it was very bitter， 1/4 tasted no bitterness， and the rest felt it was only slightly bitter. Human beings are equipped with an average of 200 taste receptors in their mouths， and the number can be as few as 100 and as many as 856.

Interestingly， there are indeed people in this world who can be particularly taste-sensitive. The Book of Jin （an official Chinese historical text covering the history of the Jin Dynasty from 266 CE to 420 CE） depicted an interesting anecdote about an official named Xun Xu who was known for his versatility and excellent literary attainments， even though his personality fell far short of his talents. As officials sat to eat with the Emperor Wu of Jin， Xun Xu told everyone that the meal was cooked using old firewood. No one believed him， and the emperor summoned the chef who verified that the firewood did indeed come from an old carriage wheel， leaving everyone impressed. The Book of Jin also mentioned the story of another great talent called Fu Lang. “The Prince Sima Daozi of Kuaiji set up a splendid dish for Fu Lang offering the most exquisite dishes of Eastern Jin. After they finished eating， he asked， ‘How does our food compare to that of Guanzhong？’ Fu Lang replied， ‘Everything is good， although the taste of salt is a little unrefined.’ When the chef was consulted， it turned out to be true. When someone slaughtered a chicken and cooked it for him， he commented， ‘This chicken is reared in a half-exposed environment，’ which was again verified. Then came the goose， and he was able to tell which part of the goose was white and which was black. Those who didn’t believe him tested him over and over again， and he was always right. Thus， he became known as an epicure.”

Needless to say， it might not be rocket science to figure out whether a chicken is free-range， but the ability to tell if the salt is unrefined and the color of the goose feathers is pretty enigmatic unless the goose down wasn’t plucked clean when slaughtered. In everyday life， such super gourmets are of course rare to find， and most of us probably get pleasure from eating pretty much everything that’s on offer.

Nonetheless， as ordinary people， it is still necessary for us to master the alphabet （common sense） of food， so that we are not easily deceived or go about the world without a taste of our own. The discipline of gastronomy involves a wide array of knowledge in biology， food engineering， physics， and chemistry. There has been very extensive research abroad， although most of which tend to be too technical， thus difficult to understand. I believe it is enough for us to grasp the basic principles of the five tastes of “sour， sweet， bitter， salty， and umami”. The sour taste comes from the stimulation of hydrogen ions to taste buds， and all acids contain hydrogen ions. Sour taste stimulates saliva production in the mouth， hence the famous idiom “quench thirst by imagining plums”. The lack of appetite often manifests itself in a dry mouth， and eating something sour， may increase one’s appetite precisely because it promotes saliva secretion. Sour foods may also ease the sensation of greasiness. This is because we perceive greasiness due to fats lingering on our taste buds for a long period of time， and eating something sour helps us to secrete saliva which may， in turn， flush the fats out.

Eating something sour is not the sole reason that may make our mouths water. We also tend to drool on things that we want but cannot get， or when we see or hear about others possessing something that we crave. That’s why we use the term “sour” to depict jealousy and envy in Chinese. There are different types of sour taste， some of which are intense， others are gentler， but the highest state of sour taste is probably tangy without being pungent.

Salty and sweet tastes may break down or conceal the sour taste to a certain extent， thus abstain from adding salt if the intention is to accentuate the taste of sour. If something is too sour， we may add a little more sugar. Our salt intake is generally way above the standard daily recommendation of six grams， therefore it is worthwhile to eat something sour that conveys flavor without the need to ingest more salt.

Sweetness is the source of energy for human beings， and glucose accounts for 80% of our daily sugar consumption. Out of instinct， we naturally produce dopamine when we taste sweet， and this leads to a sense of pleasure， which explains why “sweetness” is used to depict all good things in life. Human instinct also prompts the body to naturally possess the ability to store sugar. Whenever we ingest excess sugar， the body will naturally activate the storage function， ultimately resulting in obesity. With an ample availability of material resources nowadays， one of the tricks to avoid weight gain while still being able to enjoy delicious foods is to cut down on sweet and starchy foods as much as possible. On the other hand， meat and the majority of vegetables contain very little sugar， which means that we can enjoy them in moderation！

The opposite of sweet is bitter， and bitter compounds are naturally found in food. For instance， the main source of bitter taste in plants comes from alkaloids， terpenes， and glycosides， among others， while the animal source mainly comes from bile. Plants are mostly static， and being bitter in taste is a way to help them survive because no one likes the bitter taste. However， there is often a certain amount of bitter taste in many foods such as coffee， tea， beer， bitter gourd， and lettuce. It would be counterproductive for human beings to give up these foods completely just because of their fear of bitterness. Moreover， bitterness almost always comes hand in hand with other flavors and aromas， and we like to eat bitter gourd precisely because of the sweet sensation that comes right after the bitter taste fades. We can taste both bitter and sweet in the bitter gourd， but the bitterness comes first and it is initially perceived by the taste buds before disappearing a few seconds later， which is when the sweetness strikes. Skilled chefs are proficient in methods to reduce bitterness. For example， since alkaloids can dissolve in fat and hot water， blanching food ingredients in hot water makes them less bitter， but at the same time， we lose some of the aromas too. A good example would be pork-belly and bitter gourd casserole， a typical dish in Chaozhou cuisine that makes excellent use of this principle by dissolving the alkaloids in pork belly fat.

The salty taste stems from the stimulation of our taste buds by sodium chloride， and it is a most elemental taste. The taste of foods in their original form is generally relatively bland， and the saltiness makes the food taste more savory. Salty taste is generally absent from the food itself， and yet the human body needs sodium chloride. As a result， the combination of food and saltiness actually evolved from the needs of the human body itself： add salt to food that would otherwise taste unappetizing so as to achieve the purpose of supplementing the indispensable sodium chloride for the human body. It is known that the human body needs three to five grams of salt per day， yet our daily intake is actually up to 10 to 15 grams. Excessive salt intake will lead to high blood pressure， and that’s why we must not indulge in overly intense flavors in our pursuit of delicious food. In that sense， the kind of regimen that recommends one to drink a glass of lightly salted water in the morning is nothing but murder！

Umami is the most popular flavor， and its corresponding taste receptor wasn’t known to us until roughly 40 years ago. The umami molecule activates the umami receptor， which then embarks on a series of complex signal transmission processes in the cell， transmitting it to the gustatory nerve center of the brain through the gustatory nerves， generating the ultimate taste of umami through a series of analyses and integration processes. Proteins are a basic substance that the human body needs and the taste of umami acts as a signal of protein. We grow eager to eat umami foods， such as meat， broth， fish， fish soup， shrimp， crab， and clams when our body is in need of protein. The known umami components mainly consist of organic acids， organic bases， free amino acids （and their salts）， nucleotides （and their salts）， peptides， among which glutamic acid and nucleotides are the most common， and when working together， these two substances may enhance umami by a factor of 20. When we study and research the properties of food， our ultimate goal often lies in how to manifest the taste of umami at its best.

In addition to the sense of taste， our sense of smell is also involved when we savor food. The sensing of smell mainly takes place in our upper nasal passages which allow us to perceive thousands of aromas that are usually described in terms of the foods we associate them with. The aroma molecules we smell are more soluble in fat than in water， which means that they are easily dissipated from water into the air to be sensed by our olfactory receptors. If we pinch our nostrils while eating， it will certainly make our experience far from perfect. This is because our appreciation of food is actually composed of a combination of visual， olfactory， and taste experiences.

In addition to taste and smell， touch is also involved in our appreciation of food. Sensations such as spicy， astringent， smooth， soft， crunchy， and glutinous are all part of a tactile experience， which can make our perception of food more specific. Spicy food makes our brain secrete endorphins， resulting in a sense of pleasure; the glutinous property makes food stay longer in our taste buds， making it feel thicker and stickier on our palate; while crunchiness is a sensation that links our tactile and auditory senses， making the gustatory experience even more specific...

Michelin restaurants and other food rankings of the sort take into account not only the taste of the food but also the dining environment， service， and culture. For people who pay particular attention to the taste， the restaurants on these rankings may not turn out to be as delicious as they think. That’s because it involves a trade-off between two attributes： for the same price paid， a considerable amount is spent on the environment and service， and less is spent on the food itself. Having said that， being able to cook the food ourselves would be even more wonderful： I believe that anyone could tell the difference when dishes are made with love and affection.

There is ample research on food science from foreign countries， but unfortunately， they are often very difficult for laymen to understand fully. More importantly， food degustation happens to be a very subjective experience， thus I attempt to briefly outline the science behind food to make it as simple and easy to understand as possible. Nevertheless， my account is based solely on my personal preferences， and they may not be generalized.