Food Taste Subjectivity

The cluster discusses the subjectivity of taste in food, including debates on natural vs. processed ingredients, the role of expectation and culture in perception, and contrasts with nutrition or health benefits.

📉 Falling 0.4x Health
3,677
Comments
20
Years Active
5
Top Authors
#7240
Topic ID

Activity Over Time

2007
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Keywords

taste.html disney.com paulgraham.com youtube.com PG E.G taste tastes fruit bitter food dishes eating enjoy spicy drink

Sample Comments

fleddr Jan 3, 2023 View on HN

I think it's actually even worse than that. You're suggesting that people accept a lesser taste in exchange for the other benefits. As if this is a conscious decision.I think people don't really taste with any attention at all. They eat in a rush, preoccupied, and the ingredients may be mashed together into some mix. As long as something isn't incredibly off, they'll not consider it a "lesser" taste, this is just how a strawberry tastes....until you take

digitalengineer Nov 24, 2017 View on HN

If you think it will taste better, it will... (taste is based on more than your tongue).

doliveira Jul 5, 2022 View on HN

The taste is a pretty important part.

blinded Apr 7, 2024 View on HN

Its not about taste its about chemicals. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XdNJ0JAwT7I

goda90 May 16, 2019 View on HN

Tastier is pretty subjective, and they weren't comparing them side by side. But something can probably be said about shifting tastes as you eat a certain kind of food repeatedly. I know if I'm eating healthy for awhile, then have a super rich dessert, it overwhelms me, as if my taste buds have adapted towards the healthy food.

at-w Nov 18, 2022 View on HN

Most things we eat are chosen because they taste good in combination with other things, and better than the sum of the individual ingredients eaten separately. Eating a stick of butter probably isn't appetizing, but neither would your examples of eating pure salt or unprocessed pepper unless you have particularly odd tastes.

sametmax Feb 26, 2019 View on HN

A lot of food is like that.E.G: most people never tasted balsamic vinegar, only a mix of regular vinegar with a bit of grapes dust, plus some caramel and flour added to it. Real balsamic vinegar is hard to find and bloody expensive, because the process of making it reduces an entire barel of wine to a bottle.But we don't need to go that far. I regularly meet children that have never tasted a vegetable or fruit that tasted very good.It's not their fault they prefer the kit kat.

jiofih May 7, 2021 View on HN

I think the question is regarding nutrition / health, not taste.

hack_edu Aug 5, 2013 View on HN

The article implies that you should find something that tastes good for you, not fetishize the origin/process.

nh23423fefe Jan 31, 2023 View on HN

Food is assumed to taste good, what point are you making?