{"id":27017,"date":"2016-05-13T11:55:36","date_gmt":"2016-05-13T15:55:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/?p=27017"},"modified":"2021-08-26T13:35:22","modified_gmt":"2021-08-26T17:35:22","slug":"how-color-affects-flavor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/how-color-affects-flavor\/","title":{"rendered":"In Living Color: How Hues Hoodwink Flavor"},"content":{"rendered":"

In 1690, English philosopher and physician John Locke wrote about a blind man who longed to understand hues he\u2019d never seen. One day, the man announced that he recognized the color red, finally. \u201cIt\u2019s like the sound of a trumpet!\u201d he proclaimed. Some consider this to be the first recorded account of synesthesia, a neurological phenomenon in which a person experiences a sense other than the one that\u2019s being stimulated\u2014the piano note E-flat is lavender; circles taste bitter; confusion is orange.<\/p>\n

Neurologists estimate that between two to four percent of the world\u2019s population regularly and consciously experiences synesthesia, but some have argued that crossover between senses\u2014especially color\u2019s link to emotional and physical reactions\u2014might be, at least to an unconscious degree, present in everyone.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll of us (no matter whether we are synesthetes or not) match basic tastes to colors in ways that are far from arbitrary,\u201d University of Oxford psychologist Charles Spence wrote in a 2015 paper<\/a>. Research shows that the tendency to pair colors with specific flavors\u2014bitter is black; salty is white or blue; sour is yellow or green; and sweet is pink or red\u2014transcends cultures and eras.<\/p>\n

\"InLivingColor_1\"<\/a><\/div>\n

Other scientists have proven the strength of color\u2019s influence on aroma. In 2001, French PhD candidate Fre\u0301de\u0301ric Brochet dyed white wine red<\/a> before giving it to 54 oenology experts at the University of Bordeaux. Upon tasting the alcohol, they described it exactly as they had described actual red wine the week before, with words such as, \u201craspberry,\u201d \u201ccherry,\u201d \u201ccedar,\u201d and \u201cchicory.\u201d The connoisseurs could not tell that the wine was actually white.<\/p>\n

The findings were shocking, and suggested the esteemed art of wine tasting could be a sham. But should we be surprised? Aroma plays an important role in flavor detection, yet the human sense of smell is relatively weak compared to other mammals. Instead, we rely on visual cues, which hit our brains about ten times faster than olfactory prompts.<\/p>\n

\u201cFlavor and color need to complement one another to deliver the intended experience,\u201d says Jody Renner-Nantz, applications manager at DDW The Colour House<\/a> (a natural food coloring manufacturer). When they don\u2019t, or when there\u2019s a discrepancy between what we see and what we smell or taste, vision usually wins.<\/p>\n

The link between color and food is likely rooted in biology. At some point, our ancestors evolved from having two types of color receptors in the retina (\u201cdichromats\u201d) to three types (\u201ctrichromats\u201d), allowing them to perceive more wavelengths. Trichromats had an evolutionary advantage, as they could pick out colorful fruits and younger leaves from further distances. Evidence suggests that this improvement in color vision coincided with the deterioration in primates\u2019 sense of smell.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe associate color and taste starting from birth, and it affects us in ways we don\u2019t always perceive,\u201d says Jenn David Connolly, creative strategist at Jenn David Design<\/a>. \u201cIt can invite us or turn us away, stimulate the appetite, and set a mood,\u201d adds the color expert, who consults with food companies on using color to their advantage when developing products and brands.<\/p>\n

\n
\"Microbe_illo1\"<\/a><\/div>\n

Microbes of Many Colors<\/h3>\n

Molds that live on and in cheese appear in many hues. Some are familiar: Carotenoids are responsible for the red-orange molds such as Fusarium domesticum<\/i> on washed-rind cheeses. Melanin, a chemical present in human skin that helps safeguard us from the sun\u2019s UV rays, plays a similar protective role in Penicillium<\/i> molds\u2014melanin creates the blue or green hue found in blue cheeses.<\/p>\n

Other molds are more exotic. Tufts University microbiologist Benjamin Wolfe, who studies cheese mold ecology, has seen molds growing on cheese that are white, red, orange, yellow, green, blue, gray, pink, and purple. \u201cWalking into a cheese cave is like walking into a Technicolor natural history museum of mold,\u201d says Wolfe, who blogs about his findings at microbialfoods.org<\/a>. \u201cIt\u2019s one of the most beautiful places to go if you are fascinated by molds . . . Different caves have unique color palettes determined by the community of fungi and bacteria that live in that cave.\u201d<\/p>\n

One of Wolfe\u2019s favorite molds is Sporendonema casei<\/i>, which has a bright orange color, like a highlighter marker. Usually it\u2019s found on natural-rind cheeses from Europe and, for reasons he doesn\u2019t yet understand, the upper Midwest of the US. The neon color may be alarming, but it\u2019s perfectly edible. French affineurs claim Sporendonema casei<\/i> imparts a mushroomy taste; researchers in that country believe that the mold is found only in dairy ecosystems.<\/p>\n

Perhaps the most apt metaphor for a cheese surface dotted with these mysterious molds is an unexplored rainforest, inhabited by all kinds of eye-catching creatures.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Nutritionists have long understood that beyond influencing the mind, food color can affect wellbeing. Talya Lutzker, a Santa Cruz, Calif., dietitian who practices the ancient Indian healing system of Ayurveda, uses color to bring her patients\u2019 bodies back to balance.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen something\u2019s red, pink, or orange,\u201d Lutzker says, \u201cthat implies heat and warmth. So if someone is feeling cold, I\u2019ll recommend that they eat red lentils, not green or black lentils.\u201d<\/p>\n

Modern nutrition, too, incorporates color\u2014from a young age, we\u2019re told to eat fruits and vegetables across the color spectrum. And for good reason: Lutein and indoles in green foods lower the risk of some cancers, improve muscular and bone health, and strengthen teeth, while anthocyanins in purple foods improve circulation and prevent aging. Carotenoids in orange and yellow fruits and vegetables have been linked to a lower risk of cancer, heart disease, and blindness.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"InLivingColor_2\"<\/a><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

One of these carotenoids, beta-carotene\u2014which gives carrots an orange color\u2014is also present in grass. When cows eat grass they pass beta-carotene into their milk. The pigment remains hidden in fat globules among protein clusters that scatter visible light, making milk appear white. But cheesemaking disrupts fat membranes and protein clusters, unmasking beta-carotene. The more a cow feeds on fresh grass and the higher fat content of milk, then, the more golden the cheese.<\/p>\n

This is why golden color has been linked to cheese quality, and why producers in the 1600s began using red annatto seeds to color cheeses orange. What began as a way to mask lower fat levels (resulting from silage feeding) became a tradition that persists today in orange cheeses including Mimolette<\/a>, Red Leicester<\/a>, and many Wisconsin cheddars<\/a>.<\/p>\n

While some consumers might think orange cheddar tastes better than white cheddar, usually the hue comes from colorants with little to no taste. If blindfolded, you probably wouldn\u2019t be able to differentiate the two.<\/p>\n

But keep those trichromatic peepers open. Otherwise, you\u2019ll miss visual sensations that add an extra layer of magic to tasting. Embrace the subconscious synesthesia and taste the rainbow: It\u2019s part of what makes eating and pairing foods so much fun.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Our eyes play tricks on our other senses\u2014and that’s a good thing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":26810,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"wprm-recipe-roundup-name":"","wprm-recipe-roundup-description":"","cybocfi_hide_featured_image":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[26354],"tags":[],"coauthors":[290],"class_list":["post-27017","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-stories"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nIn Living Color: How Hues Hoodwink Flavor - culture: the word on cheese<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/how-color-affects-flavor\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"In Living Color: How Hues Hoodwink Flavor\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Our eyes play tricks on our other senses\u2014and that's a good thing.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/how-color-affects-flavor\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"culture: the word on cheese\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-05-13T15:55:36+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-08-26T17:35:22+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/CH-16_ToC_1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"750\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"368\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Molly McDonough\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Molly McDonough\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/how-color-affects-flavor\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/how-color-affects-flavor\/\",\"name\":\"In Living Color: How Hues Hoodwink Flavor - 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