# Foodies: what does 'savory' mean?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foodies-what-does-savory-mean/605170>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [December 5, 2011, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foodies-what-does-savory-mean/605170 "2011-12-05T20:05:37Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 3

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**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\
**Post date:** [December 15, 2011, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foodies-what-does-savory-mean/605170/41 "2011-12-15T00:57:11Z")

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> [@typoink](#):
>
> Yeah, as I understand it, spicy isn’t considered a flavor on its own because capsaicin doesn’t trigger taste receptors.
> 
> It certainly affects the taste of the food, but through a different mechanism. I’d put spiciness in same category as things like temperature, moisture, texture, and astringency.

Do you have any other info on this? It sounds fascinating and I’ve never heard of such a thing.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\
**Post date:** [December 15, 2011, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foodies-what-does-savory-mean/605170/42 "2011-12-15T00:59:03Z")

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> [@Acsenray](#):
>
> “Meaty” does not mean “has meat in it.” It means “having some of the culinary qualities of meat” and there’s a _lot_ of vegetarian food that can accurately be described as having a “meaty” quality, including almost any kind of mushroom.

Yeah, I guess I can see your point. _Thinking_ of a food as tasting “meaty” feels weird though, I can’t deny it.

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