Unit 1 test part C

In class today, I'll be discussing how we form our impressions of food. First, let's review the
five senses that contribute to our perceptions of everything around us. Remember, those
senses are sight, smell, hearing, touch, and taste. Immediately, most of us think of taste as
the primary sense that affects our impression of foods and whether or not we like them.
However, think about the information we get before we even put food in our mouths. It may
be that other senses are more reliable. Let's start with some typical experiences. Imagine I'm
a student home for vacation. I've just finished my final exams and wake up anxious for a
homemade breakfast. Probably while I'm lying in bed, I smell the coffee. The smell actually
helps me get out of bed. Perhaps I heard my father grinding the coffee beans first. I assume
the coffee will be better than the instant coffee I make in my dorm room. So here the smell
has influenced my impression of the coffee even before I taste it. Do you think you can form a
negative impression of a food from hearing its name? Well, ask yourself if your first
impression of a fish called spotted weakfish or big mouth sleeper is a positive one. They do
not sound very appetizing, do they? That's one way hearing might influence the foods we
select. And of course, just the sound of food cooking, such as a sizzling stir fry, can make our
mouths water. Touch and sight also play a role. While some people love sushi, others refuse
to eat it because they don't like the way it feels in their mouths. Some eaters say that a lot of
food piled on a plate makes them lose their appetite. Others may be suspicious of a bowl of
meat covered with a sauce they are not familiar with. Now many menus show pictures of
food. Chefs are worried about the presentation. If the plate looks beautiful, we believe that
the food will be delicious. Now let's get back to the sense that we all thought was the most
important taste. You can see that many other senses have come into play before we actually
taste the food. The food may taste better or worse than we thought, based on the way it
sounded, looked, felt, or smelled. Did we make a snap judgment? So maybe taste is not the
most important sense in creating our first impressions, it just confirms them. And of course,
taste may influence our future choices. We may decide we love Thai food because it is spicy,
or we hate English food because it isn't. I'll end with an interesting example. The durian and
Asian fruit has a sharp, pointy exterior and an awful smell. However, many are able to get
past their first impressions and enjoy the taste of this unusual fruit.