So say researchers from ultra-conventional Oxford university. Manners be damned. But is the revolutionary practice destined to catch on with the masses? The findings seem to parallel those of wine experts and food tasters who aerate their mouthfuls while seeking the optimum experience…
Your nose has as much or more than your taste buds
to do with your enjoyment of food and drink.
Have you seen any of those documentaries about tea or coffee tasters? Those folks with ultra-sensitive senses of taste and smell who make sure the products are consistent from batch to batch? They always draw a little air across the samples in their mouths to enhance the sensitivity of their ‘readings’.
And take, for example, the ancient custom of swirling Brandy or other spirits in the glass before tasting. The very shape and name of the Brandy Snifter echoes ancient wisdom and modern science: Your nose has as much or more than your taste buds to do with your enjoyment of food and drink.
Stands to reason?
Oxford experimental psychologist Charles Spence says we should all be doing it. Otherwise we’re not getting our money’s worth or our full enjoyment of out every-day food.
“We’ve been doing it all wrong,” professor Spence tells The Times of London. “Parents instill manners in their children, extolling the virtues of politely chewing with our mouths closed. However, chewing open-mouthed may actually help to release more of the volatile organic compounds, contributing to our sense of smell and the overall perception.”
And there’s more…
Spence insists that ditching the silverware and going in with our hands – with any dish – can further enhance our gustatory pleasure.
“Our sense of touch is also vital in our perception of food on the palate,” Spence explains. “The research shows that what you feel in the hand can change or bring out certain aspects of the tasting experience. Feeling the smooth, organic texture of the skin of an apple in our hand before biting into it is likely to contribute to a heightened appreciation of the juicy, sweet crunch of that first bite.”
How it works
Like the heating of food during cooking, eating open-mouthed helps release more of the aromatic compounds we sense as flavours and aromas. It also helps them reach the back of the nose to boost pleasant perceptions.
My take
I won’t dispute Dr. Spence’s claims or findings. In fact, I support his contentions about nasal sensations being important to our overall enjoyment of foods.
That being said, I have to say I find his ‘recommendations’ more than a little narrow and unrealistic. Even selfish.
If you’re huddled by yourself in front of the screen or eating at the table alone, go ahead and chew with your mouth open. Smack your lips. Clack your molars. Heck, dig in with both hands, too. But don’t expect top make any friends if you do that in public. And don’t expect as much cash in the Christmas card from Grandma next year.
While eating with your mouth open may enhance your enjoyment, I guarantee it will kill the enjoyment of those around you. Inconsiderate diners invariably make grotesque faces and spew half-masticated food across the table. Watching someone eating with their mouth open makes some folks literally sick.
And then there’s the question of noise. Chewing with your mouth open cannot help but produce primal, disgusting, even nauseating noises. One can avert one’s eyes, but not one’s ears.
If I was eating in a restaurant, having committed to spend $100 or more on a dinner for two, before booze and taxes, I would strongly resent someone within earshot eating open-mouthed. My meal would be ruined.
Bottom line…
Thank you, Dr. Spence, for confirming something food lovers have known since the dawn of eating. Getting foods to release more of their aromatic compounds enhances our enjoyment of them. But you’re up against an unscalable wall of convention and stolid belief in ‘descent behaviour’ if you expect folks to adopt the custom of eating with their mouths open en masse.
Ain’t gonna happen. Not in our lifetimes, anyway…
~ Maggie J.