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To understand anchovies, you need to understand umami. For most of history, just four tastes were recognized: sweet, sour, bitter and salty. They were probably singled out around the fifth [...]

how I became a Professional taster By orietta gianjorio In Italy, where I grew up, we take food very seriously. My mom cooked a lot and would go to the [...]

The article reports on innovation center opened by chemical firm Dow for Latin America and mentions research and development structure brought by the facility to become technology for sustainable innovation. Topics discussed include laboratories and cutting-edge equipment offered by the center, laboratories for sensory evaluation and collaborative workspace and training facilities.

COCOA today is too good to waste in a mug. Baking brings out its best qualities. To see how 15 brands compared, I tasted them first in a slurry with […]

The article reports on fundraising by Opertech Bio Inc., a company that has pioneered a new approach to sensory evaluation, in a private equity financing to complete development and marketing for Opertech's taste evaluation technology called Microtiter Operant Gustometer (MOG). It informs that MOG technology is automated high throughput system for rapid characterization of taste sensory properties. It also highlights views of Opertech's chief executive officer (CEO) Scott Horvitz for the same.

The article focuses on tasting different flavors of moonshine, a whiskey traditionally made from corn. It relates that statements of Josh Madore of Sugarlands Distilling Co., Eric Manes and Ole Smoky co-founder Joe Baker about a range of moonshine brewing in the Great Smoky Mountains of East Tennessee.

The article describes the expectations and skills of individuals hired to test the various flavors of bubblegum that are created by scientists. These tasters have to go through extensive training in order to be able to pick up on the smallest differences between flavor samples. A good taster must also be able to communicate the flavors they experience.

Reviews several Champagnes. Discussion of expensive Champagne being associated with good times for the individuals drinking the Champagne; Process by which Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier grapes become Champagne; Prestige associated with the bottling and packaging; Characteristics of expensive Champagne; Results of the author's evaluation of several Champagnes.

EVERYBODY knows that wine is intimidating. The terminology and the connoisseurship can set even the most confident person atremble. But nothing scares wine consumers so much as an umlaut. This diacritical mark, a mere two dots, is simply intended to communicate a particular pronunciation of the vowel it tops. Instead, it often signals to consumers that they must flee in terror to the nearest bottle of pinot grigio. Yet if they can surmount the obstacle of the umlaut, I believe they will find a lot to like in a glass of good blaufrankisch. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article reports on the opening of the third retail tasting room of Temecula Olive Oil Co. at the 342 S. Cedros Avenue in Solana Beach, California in November 2010.

If you want to glimpse the handiwork of one of your body's unsung sensory heroes, try this little experiment. Hold your index finger a few inches in front of your face and sweep it back and forth at a rate of maybe once or twice a second. What do you see? A blurry finger. Now hold your finger steady and instead shake your head back and forth at the same half-second pace. This time, no blur, no Marcel Duchamp's ''Nude Descending a Staircase'' effect. The finger stays in focus even as your head vigorously pantomimes its denial. And it's a good thing, too. If the brain couldn't distinguish between movements of the viewer and movements of the view, if every time you turned around or walked across the room the scenery appeared to smear or the walls to lurch your way, you soon might cease to move at all, uncertain of external threats, unaided by any internal compass marked You. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article examines a new method being developed to treat eating disorders. In so-called "mindful eating," binge eaters and obese persons are being trained to concentrate on the sensory enjoyment of food, its color, odor, and taste. This process results in far slower and hence reduced eating.

Focuses on a sampling of a range of new high-end unflavored vodkas that have come on the market in the last few years by editors of the Dining section of "The New York Times." Finding that, in a blind tasting of 21 vodkas, Smirnoff vodka was favored over newer brands; Popularity of vodka in the U.S.; Suggestion that vodka has set a marketing standard for high-end spirits that the other liquors are struggling to emulate; Overview of the vodkas; How differences among vodkas that were tasted were subtle, but each had a distinctive flavor and aroma; Tasting report.

Presents a schedule of food tasting events in New York for the month of December 2004.