Textured Spoons

As we know, the tongue possesses a unique taste topography in which different sectors register different kinds of taste. In many cases, those sectors can be influenced in the degree to which they respond to food and register a taste sensation through the texture of the object they touch. The Textured Spoons are an experiment in which the underside of the food carrying object is textured to vary the taste of the food it bears.

The textures are aggressive and vary over a broad range, from wood bark, the round shape of caviar, the silky surface of pudding, the medium roughness of toasted bread or the sharp angular texture of crispy noodles. Meanwhile, the texture and consistency of the food they carried was purposefully distinct from that of the spoon to examine whether odd taste sensations would emerge from the practice of eating from spoons with a textured underbelly. The spoons were made of plastic to avoid the inevitable taste sensation of metal on skin.

After conducting blindfolded tests on my friends serving only scrambled eggs (mild texture) on all the textures of spoon, they were unable to discern that all the spoons had the same food. Some had guessed chocolate mousse or pate, as the flavor profile of the eggs had changed entirely because of the spoon texture.

The spoons were made from plastic because it has been said that metal affects the taste of the food especially when serving acidic foods.

The caviar spoon, holding scrambled eggs - tended to taste sweeter

The tree bark spoon, holding grilled steak - tended to taste salty

The crispy noodle spoon, holding cold chicken salad - tended to taste salty, bitter and sweet

The butter/pudding spoon, holding chocolate cake - tended to taste mildly salty

The rock face spoon, holding funnel cake - tended to taste salty and bitter

the spike spoon, holding glazed fried chicken - tended to taste extremely bitter and salty