The senses of taste and smell play a critical role not only in determining the sensory pleasure of food, but also in influencing our moods, our perceptions of the world around us and even our memories.
Europrodotti contributes to making the culinary experience a harmony of taste and olfactory sensations that goes beyond simple nutrition, taking us into the realm of psychology and memory thanks to the scent and flavor of aromas and spices.
The sensation of taste: a multidimensional experience
Taste is one of the most important sensory forms we use in perceiving the outside world. Through taste receptors on the tongue and in the mouth we are able to distinguish between sweet, salty, sour, bitter and umami. However, taste offers us much more than just a sensory experience. In fact it is enough for us to bite into a ham or mortadella sandwich or bring a meatball or a forkful of spaghetti alla carbonara to our mouth to start a flurry of pleasant emotions, ranging from the memory of a particular moment in our lives to the sense of belonging to our cultural identity.
We all have at least one favorite dish. Our connection to a certain gastronomic speciality may have originated in the most diverse ways. Think of lasagna with meat sauce or chicken with potatoes cooked by mom on Sundays. Or of a fillet of sole meunière eaten in a typical restaurant discovered by chance when we were on vacation. In our live we are able to create, even unconsciously, a strong bond with a food consumed in conditions in which we were happy, cheerful and serene. Therefore ordering at a restaurant our favorite dish or cooking it at home is a way to repeat a positive experience, an effective mean especially if we want to overcome a difficult moment in which we feel tired or depressed.
Eating something we like, naturally in moderation, can thus become a winning therapy to overcome stress and sadness.
The power of smell: the scent of memories
The sense of smell plays an equally important role in transforming the perception of food into an experience capable of offering us well-being. Olfactory receptors are able to distinguish a wide range of aromas and fragrances and are closely linked with our memory. Food scents can thus evoke vivid memories and intense emotions, often with more energy than a sound or image can.
The mouth-watering and peckish feeling we feel when, for example, we smell the scent of spice dressings such as cloves or cinnamon or aromatic herbs such as sage, rosemary or parsley are the practical proof of the psycho-physical reaction to pleasant food smells.
The aromas and flavors of food: the psychological and social implications
The taste and smell of food have profound implications for our emotional and social well-being. Eating together is one of the most classic opportunities for socialization, as well as always being a source of comfort, joy and lightheartedness. Christmas lunch, New Year's Eve dinner or Sunday barbecue is an opportunity to create and strengthen emotional bonds and share an experience to remember with friends and family.
Food as an opportunity for socialization also plays a role at the community level. Let's think of village festivals such as the Porchetta festival of Monte San Severino in Umbria, the red garlic of Sulmona in Abruzzo and the Truffle of Alba in Piedmont, just to name a few examples. Such folkloristic events help to keep ancient local traditions alive, making young people aware of the values of the older generations and the peasant world.
Some gastronomic events have even crossed national borders becoming of global importance. The German Oktoberfest, founded in 1810, became the largest folk festival in the world after World War II. Currently it is visited every year by more than six million of German and foreign tourists who consume seven and a half million mugs of beer and devour tons of sausages with sauerkraut, spit-roasted chickens and pork knuckles.
The taste and smell of food are much more than just physical sensations: they are gateways to our memories, our emotions and our individual and collective identity. Europrodotti selects and processes spices and aromas to create condiments that, in addition to enriching our diet, also positively improve our emotional and social life.