Episode guide
Taste: A Journey Down the River of Flavor
Dinner is chemistry you are allowed to enjoy. This episode rides a bite of food past the tongue's five little languages and onward, downstream.
The science, gently
- Your tongue reads five tastes: sweet, salty, sour, bitter, and savory umami.
- Most of what we call flavor is actually smell, arriving through the back door of the nose.
- Taste buds are replaced all the time; your tongue is always renewing its readers.
Wonder together
- Which of the five tastes is your favorite language?
- What food tastes like your family?
- Why do you think sweet means safe to a baby?
Tonight's calm-down
Remember the best single bite of today, slowly, the way you would re-read a good sentence. The body keeps such notes. File it under a good day, and close the kitchen.