Taste is one of the most important senses when it comes to flavour perception – as a food or drink is consumed, taste compounds are released and these activate taste receptors located on our tongue.
The Five Tastes
Sweet
Sweet flavours give savoury dishes more depth. Use sweet ingredients to take the edge off of dishes that are too bitter. Ingredients to add a natural sweetness to a dish are things like plums, raisins, carrots and honey.
Chicken Stir Fry with Toasted Coconut
Halloumi & Chermoula-spiced Couscous
Salty
Salt is a flavour enhancer, so when you “salt to taste,” it also brings out low-lying aromas and flavours. It can also balance unwanted bitterness in a dish.
Fried Bean & Mushroom Taco with Feta and Chipotle Mayo
Peri Peri Giant Fish Fingers
Acidic
This is another flavour that has a reputation for being hard to swallow but even the smallest addition of a sour ingredient, like a burst of lime, a splash of vinegar, or a spoonful of yoghurt or crème fraîche can really lift a dish.
Beef and Veggie Meatballs with Cucumber Salad and Spaghetti
Meatball Wraps with Wedges and Yoghurt Dip
Bitter
Bitterness helps to balance any sweetness. Great ingredients to add a bitter taste are Broccoli, cabbage and kale.
Curried Vegetable Pie
Butternut Squash Steaks
Umami
The umami taste is caused by foods rich in glutamate or nucleotides, such as parmesan and fermented foods. Ingredients to add for more umami are Parmesan cheese, meat broths, soy sauce, tomato sauce, and mushrooms.
Chicken Thai Massaman Rice
One Pan Asian Chicken
5 Ways To Overcome Fussy Eating
Introduce new foods early on
The main way we learn to like foods is by simply trying them - early exposure to healthy food seems critical in fostering preferences for them.
Share one meal and eat together
Children develop preferences for the foods they see others eating, and this is especially true with younger kids - familiar adults eating the same foods as the child can, therefore, be important in influencing food preferences, especially when the adults offer the foods in a friendly way.
Positive encouragement, again and again
Offering praise or a reward for trying new foods has also been shown to have some success, however, the reward should not be in the form of another food but rather a non-food item such as a sticker.
Combine new foods with old favourites
Gently introduce new ingredients with familiar foods they’re used to. If you can teach children to learn to like the flavour of vegetables in their own right, rather then because they are hidden in a sauce, then half the battle is won.
Include kids when choosing what to eat
Getting kids involved in cooking, and including them in the meal planning, can be a great way to promote a positive attitude around food in the home.
