Psychology + Food = Let the mind games begin!!!

Last weekend at the Culinary Historians Symposium, there was a lecturer from U of I Champaign who is a psychologist working in the Ag area, which covers foods. They conduct a restaurant where they do human studies. They serve the exact same menu to all diners but alter presentation to different diners, then weigh the leftover waste on the plates and review exit surveys.

An example of a head spinning dining experience they concoct:

Buy the cheapest wine, then relabel two ways: Cabernet from South Dakota as well as Cabernet from California

Diner's are presented with a complimentary glass of wine from one of these states. Later, those who had the South Dakota wine, left more food on their plates and their reaction to the entire meal was so-so. Those who had the California wine, left less food waste and were quite thrilled how the quality of the wine enchanced the entire meal.

Remember, this was el cheapo wine --- so they objectively proved their are psychological factors involved in your perception of food and wine.

On another occasion, they served the same non-descript chocolate cake to all diners. For one group, it was referred to as Imported Belgium Double Chocolate Cake and for another group simply Chocolate Cake. This cake was nothing special edging on stale. Those who received the Belgium (zipped up name) cake were quite eager to show appreciation and praise. Those who simply received the Chocolate Cake without the suggestive emotional charge were considerably less enthusiastic.

I am just dying to go to this restaurant, which is open only one day a week in Champaign. I want to bring some people for this bit of culinary head games, so I don't want to blow it by it becoming an 'open' secret.

Fortunately, I have a pool of friends who don't read LTHforum. com unless I specifically point them somewhere. So this secret is just between us!

I love stories like this.

There is a special that has been airing lately on FoodTV: "John Cleese's Wine for the Confused". It's an hour-long special about wine grapes, tasting, pairing, etc. There are two particular moments in the show that come to mind.

1) John Cleese served wine in opaque tumblers to a group of friends of his at a party. He asked people to taste it and tell him if they thought they were drinking red or white wine. About half of the group got it wrong. I immediately thought about how many people I know that say, "I only drink reds!".

2) He then served 6 different wines in a blind tasting. The bottles ranged from $10 - $200 per bottle. People were asked to match the glass to the price. Of course, they were all over the map with this one.

Perception clearly defines reality for many, when it comes to dining. After Alton Brown clearly explained that a lobster is a big bug, Ms. EC is not too keen on eating them whole. (I could care less. If the bug tastes good and won't kill me, bring me more bugs).

It is a challenge to set aside your expectations and concentrate on your senses. It takes a level of discipline that most people don't want to employ when they're trying to relax during a meal (nor should they have to). Expectations take us part of the way,

I believe the notion of an "acquired taste" exacerbates this challenge. There are many delicacies that, on first taste, are somewhat offensive to certain palettes. When tasting something that you are told is a delicacy, I bet you are probably much more likely to accept a level of distaste in respect for the fact that people somewhere else love it.

Just my $0.02

Best,
EC

I seem to have the opposite situation.I read a description of wine and look forward to trying it only to be disappointed.I don't notice the spicy,fruity or herbal quality that I know I should taste.

eatchicago wrote:
1) John Cleese served wine in opaque tumblers to a group of friends of his at a party. He asked people to taste it and tell him if they thought they were drinking red or white wine. About half of the group got it wrong. I immediately thought about how many people I know that say, "I only drink reds!".

EC

Calvin Trillin discusses this experiment in his Feeding a Yen , Random House, 2003 in a chapter entitled "The Red and the White" (pp. 116- 128 ). He concludes that the test that supposedly was developed at UC Davis never occurred, but that in his informal test, his friends had some ability to distinguish between red and white wines.

Hi,

Chicago Tribune Food Section had an article on Brian Wansink, whose research I was referencing in my original post.

This will be available to read on-line without a fee until next Tuesday.

Regards,