wfertman's picture  Knives Make Cheese Salty: How Taste is
Affected by our Other Senses  Here's a fascinating round-up of
sensory research from Discover involving our favorite foodstuf:
Previous research has indicated that showing subjects
"geometically sharp" objects before having them sample cheese
contributed to the subject's perception of cheese as tasting
sharp; a case of a sensory metaphor affecting actual sensory
perception. Scientists at Oxford University wondered if the
perception of sharpness could actually transfer to cheese to
eating utensils, which, after all, are a sharp class of objects.