Utensil Texture Affects Taste of Food


For some reason, I still remember what it felt like to be fed from a spoon when I was a baby. It probably has something to do with the tactile sensation from a coated spoon made special for baby teeth. For a brief moment, I was reminded of those spoons when I saw the project "Tableware as Sensorial Stimuli" from design student Jinhyun Jeon.

The designer was inspired by the neurological condition synesthesia. This condition causes each sense to affect or be triggered by the other. For example, certain smells make a person with synesthesia see a specific color.

NEWS: Eating Tofu Could Improve Your Sex Life

The utensils created for this project were done so to support a thesis about the relationship between the way food tastes and the tactile sensations from the tools used to eat it. A table setting that uses these forks and spoons looks like a futuristic exhibit of alien dinnerware. The spoons are covered in different types of textures and colors, from knobby edges to smooth pink ceramic.

They also vary in weight, volume and shape. According to Jeon, warmer colors like red increase appetite and different textures can stimulate the sense of touch in the mouth, which can affect the way food tastes.

via: Dezeen

Credit: Jinhyun Jeon