How does the idea of everyone around you eating loudly and with their mouths open make you feel? Certainly this image does not trigger any joy in the head - rather a gagging reflex or at least disgust. That's pretty much what it felt like to look at a work of art at Documenta 2007 - it showed an open mouth with chewed food. But this is not about photography and art at all. It's about the fact that you can confidently throw your table manners overboard and do as the artist did - and eat with your mouth open. Why on earth should you do that? You will be given a whole new taste experience, at least that is what research at Oxford University suggests.
Professor Charles Spence is an experimental psychologist at Oxford University. In his research, he deals, among other things, with how our brain processes the information from our various senses. If he has his way, in the future we should eat our meals with our lips smacking and our mouths open - that would maximize the taste and give us a new eating experience.
"We did everything wrong," says the researcher to the "Telegraph". He elaborates, "Parents teach their children manners and praise the virtues of polite closed-mouth chewing. Yet open-mouth chewing can release more volatile organic compounds, which contributes to our sense of smell and general cognition." For those who didn't know, volatile organic compounds such as esters or ketones are what make a dish taste and smell.
You will certainly not make new friends in the canteen if you suddenly eat your lunch with your mouth open. But at least the food tastes better then. Charles Spence explains that chewing with your mouth open helps more aromatic compounds reach the bridge of your nose. There they activate so-called olfactory sensory neurons, which makes food taste better. And there's even another reason: "We like loud food. To best hear the crunch of an apple, a potato chip, a carrot stick, a cracker, a crispbread, or a handful of popcorn, we should always abandon our manners and open-mouthed chew mouth."
If this new taste experience is not enough for you, you should also sort out your cutlery. The best way to eat - you guessed it: with your hands. That may work, unless you want to eat soup. "Our sense of touch is also critical to how we perceive food on the palate. Research shows that the feel in the hand can alter or enhance certain aspects of the taste experience," said Charles Spence. For example, if you can feel the smooth texture of an apple before you bite into it, you will appreciate that fruit more. "This can be extended to feeling grains of salt sticking to your fingers when you eat fries with your hands, or the sugary residue of buttercream on a hand after picking up a piece of birthday cake and biting into it."
If you enjoyed doing that as a kid, it seems to have been spot on: "While licking your fingers with your hands after eating is frowned upon in polite circles, research suggests we should consider changing etiquette for maximum sensory enjoyment," says Charles Spence. Well then, bon appetit!
Sources: Telegraph, Guardian
