Eating in the Dark

Eating in the Dark

We’re all familiar with the folk wisdom concerning blind folks: their sense of hearing allegedly becomes more acute. If this is true, maybe the blind are compelled to develop their remaining senses more completely; perhaps, given the vast amount of sensory data the brain can handle, what normally would have been handled by the optical centers is channeled to auditory centers.

Any way, my question: do you taste food more acutely if you eat in low light conditions or even total darkness?

We all appreciate a good-looking meal, of course, but it seems there may be some advantage in reducing optical stimuli so as to enhance olfactory and taste perceptions.

I feel there is some recognition of this physiological dynamic when people taste something really good, and they close their eyes to concentrate on the taste by shutting out the sight. Think of Rachel Ray.

I remember when I was a kid, I read in L’Entranger that you could not enjoy a cigarette in the dark. At the time, this seemed true, because to savor the toxic pleasure of smoking you really need to see blue, carcinogenous clouds billowing out of your piehole. With food, it doesn’t seem to work that way – what you don’t see may actually taste better.

Contrariwise, eating in bright light, with maximum visual clarity, seems to diminish the flavor of food. Imagine the times you’ve been sitting on the beach or at a picnic table in the bright sunlight, visibility 100% -- did the food taste as good as it should? It doesn’t for me. I prefer the shade. It tastes better.

There is a restaurant in Zurich called the Blind Cow where diners eat in complete darkness and are served by blind waitstaff. I've never been, but heard a an NPR story on it a year or so ago. Sounds as if it would be the ultimate test of your theory.

I have had quite a few episodes where I ate while sleep walking. I usually eat things I would not, or should not, normally eat. I suspect that I can probably "see" in this state, and cannot comment on any taste difference, so this seems irrelevant.

Undoubtedly, sight (as well as all the senses) affect our perception of the taste of food. We all know and appreciate presentation. Whether this interferes with the essence of taste itself may be a question of semantics, but it is an interesting question.

I can remember being fascinated as a kid that while dining with my parents at some dark place (maybe Victoria Station, say) picking up my water glass thinking it was my Coke glass (or vice versa) and finding the taste gross.

-ramon

I can't eat in the dark. I just can't. Something about it bothers me, and I just can't stomach the thought of putting food in my mouth that I can't see.

So I have no idea if food tastes better in the dark. I'm scared to find out.

David Hammond wrote:[...] to savor the toxic pleasure of smoking you really need to see blue, carcinogenous clouds billowing out of your piehole. With food, it doesn’t seem to work that way [...]

David, I can confirm that when food is billowing out my piehole, I am likely not enjoying it.

Bob S. wrote:

David Hammond wrote:[...] to savor the toxic pleasure of smoking you really need to see blue, carcinogenous clouds billowing out of your piehole. With food, it doesn’t seem to work that way [...]

David, I can confirm that when food is billowing out my piehole, I am likely not enjoying it.

The spectrum of your pleasures is, indeed, tightly circumscribed. More's the pity,

Hammond

Ramon wrote:I have had quite a few episodes where I ate while sleep walking. I usually eat things I would not, or should not, normally eat.

Ramond,

Your kids forgive you yet about the parakeet?

Enjoy,
Gary

G Wiv wrote:

Ramon wrote:I have had quite a few episodes where I ate while sleep walking. I usually eat things I would not, or should not, normally eat.

Ramond,

Your kids forgive you yet about the parakeet?

Enjoy,
Gary

Now Gary, you know the kids were young enough to forget the parakeet incident. I'm still making it up to them -- Cheese Burger in Paradise for dinner tonight.

And yes, the turtles are still safe, though Chiquita (or Morsel) is no longer. Natural causes, don't you know.

-ramon

About three or four years ago, there was a big 'dining in the dark' fad. Suba, a restaurant on the Lower East Side in NYC, had dinners in the dark for a while (not sure if they still do it). Waiters wore night visition goggles to serve. Never participated myself--I got the impression it was mostly a date/singles kind of thing, with diners pawing around the tables and feeding each other...not my scene--but my guess is that shutting off any sensory input will heighten other senses.

Even with smoking...you may not see the smoke, but you'll probably smell/taste it more, which may be why you enjoy it less.

I notice I tend to eat more and prefer eating at night, or in darker environments.

I was forced to put these questions to the test last night at Coast, bathed in approximate twilight. I'm sure the fish wasn't spoiled, but it didn't knock my socks off. Any heightened awareness was smothered by the frustration of not knowing what I was picking up with my chopsticks.

It wasn't easy to order off the menu either.

m'th'su wrote:I was forced to put these questions to the test last night at Coast, bathed in approximate twilight. I'm sure the fish wasn't spoiled, but it didn't knock my socks off. Any heightened awareness was smothered by the frustration of not knowing what I was picking up with my chopsticks.

It wasn't easy to order off the menu either.

You're still a young man, but I refer you to the advice of my friend, Dr. Lisa Bahrense who, when I complained about how hard it was to read a menu at Mas, pointed out, "You know, it is not the case that restaurants have slowly dimmed their lights over the years."

David "Deaf, dumb and pretty much blind kid" Hammond

I just stumbled across this thread and remembered an interesting article I read about food color and its relationship to taste. I can't find the original, but this article gives a summary of the studies on which it was based: http://www.foodproductdesign.com/articles/466/466_1096QA.html