Mouth feel is critical for most dishes and palates. Try this the next time you make a pot of soup stock: After the initial cooking, place part of the stock in a different pot, including portions of the meat, bones, veggies, etc., but don’t skim off the fat. While the taste will be nearly identical to the skimmed stock, the “feel” in your mouth will be greasy and unpleasant.
I have to say, though, that if it doesn’t taste good, no amount of “feel” is going to make me eat it.
There’s more than just taste and mouthfeel, as far as I’m concerned; there’s this third thing that I can’t quite identify, but here goes…
Some of the very best eating experiences, in my opinion, are to be had from consuming incompletely mixed mouthfulls, for example:[ul]
[li]Yoghurt with fruit on the bottom (assuming you don’t just stir it all together) - the yoghurt is creamy, smooth and mild, the fruit is both acidic and sweet, perhaps slightly chunky and syrupy.[/li][li]Hot fudge sundae - the ice cream is cold, sweet and firm, the sauce is smooth, hot, aromatic and bittersweet.[/li][li]You get the idea[/li][/ul]The point here is that it isn’t just mouthfeel and it isn’t just flavour, it is a combination of the two, as well as the juxtaposition of different combinations of different tastes and textures in different parts of the mouth all at once.
I’m with overlyverbose. It’s a combination, though I’m more likely to dislike something because of texture (mainly things I can’t stand to chew). For example, I like the taste of coconut, but I can’t stand to chew it. Same goes for raspberries (because of the seeds) and hamburger. My sister’s the same way. She’ll only eat grapes if you peel them for her (yeah, right!).
However, there are also things I can’t eat because of the smell, such as coleslaw. I’ve always had the rule that if it smells bad, don’t eat it! Words to live by, in my opinion!
I’m with overly verbose, too. If I hate the texture, I’m not going to eat it (or at least not much of it) no matter how wonderful it tastes. And if the texture doesn’t go with the taste, forget it, even if the texture and taste are things that I like individually.
Vegetables, for instance. They should be raw and crispy, or they should be cooked and soft but firm. They should NOT be raw and soft, nor should they be cooked and crispy (a cooked vegetable shouldn’t crunch when you chew it, that’s just gross.)
Texture and taste are inextricably entwined. Cold melted ice cream is just icky, even if it tastes the same as frozen. Congealed gravy is equally nasty. Pulverize your favorite vegetable (candy bar, meat, whatever) until you have paste. Still tastes the same, doesn’t it? Would you eat it?
Oooooooooh, there ya go; that fits me perfect, I think. It’s why I can’t stand raw fish, no matter how well prepared. Or Spam: tastes like a pig, goes down like Jell-O. :eek:
My sense of taste is weak, so texture is more important to me.
I like substantial food… chewy, crunchy, etc… stuff that feels like you have to work to eat it.
Bothand I feel that if you canget both just right, the combination is synergistic, and food becomes an art form.
Good! Nice to see some fellow ‘texturites’ showing up.
I was hoping there was a vocabulary pertaining to this and I’m grateful to **curly chick ** not only for her strangely erotic post but for introducing me to . . . . stand by your beds . . . . mouthfeel. How splendid!
Along with that I chanced across ‘stealth fat’ and some others:
Onwards:
** even seven**, I hadn’t considered the cultural angle but I think it has legs. Still mulling that over . . . Otto it might be forbidden in your neck of the woods . .
Mangetout, I agree with you but, thus far, I think I tend to consider it all as mothfeel and what you describe as an extension of same . . . ?
** overlyverbose ** – and disciples – introduce us to *smell *as a factor. I can see it, but it’s not me folks. At least, if smell is a factor its deep in the mix and a long way below texture and taste. Smell tends to just make me hungry.
Disconcerting as it is to be in the same camp as ** Vlad Dracul **, it did strike me that people like me (who are into texture) might be so as a result of (relatively) weak taste buds.
And finally, the word I’ve been waiting for from ** Chavardz ** ‘synergistic’.
I think that’ll do: ‘Synergistic mouthfeel’. Ooooh Matron! You are naughty . . .
I chose my favorite cheap beer for texture. The mouthfeel of Miller High Life is a root-beer-like creaminess that’s rare in a Yank beer.
like for taste, dislike texture here too. I don’t like foods that feel like the following in my mouth, but most are OK in some other form:
Bell peppers (mmm grilled)
Cucumbers
Celery (OK cooked into things)
Well, list over, but I’ve probably forgotten a lot.
I love, love, love gritty-sandy textures in food; sometimes more than the flavor (although taste matters too). That’s why I adore grits and stone-ground cornmeal so much. I also really crave the crunchy-salty combination a lot of the time.
On the other hand, I can like the flavor but not the texture and so avoid that particular food. Specifically the squishy-gummy-gelid types. Not just soft foods mind you, but a certain range of softer textures just turns me off.
I’m notoriously picky when it comes to food. My food has to pass 3 tests. First it has to smell good. I will not even try pea soup because of the smell. Provolone smells like dirty feet.
Next, it has to taste good. It’s very possible to smell good and taste awful. Sausage falls into this catergory.
Finally, it has to have the right texture. I have no issue with most textures but I will not eat most fish because it feels squeaky when you chew it. Most foods that have textures I can’t stomach also have tastes or smells that also make me gag which is why texture isn’t a major deciding factor.
Some foods are great for their textures. I love the feel of tomatoes. They have that firm but soft feel on the outside and that nice juicy feel on the inside.