PrintAm I a Supertaster?
Supertaster: "a person who experiences taste with far greater intensity than average.... The cause of this heightened response is currently unknown, although it is thought to be, at least in part, due to an increased number of fungiform papillae. The evolutionary advantage to supertasting is unclear. In some environments, heightened taste response, particularly to bitterness, would represent an important advantage in avoiding potentially toxic plant alkaloids. However, in other environments, increased response to bitter may have limited the range of palatable foods. In our modern, energy-rich environment, supertasting may be cardioprotective, due to decreased liking and intake of fat, but may increase cancer risk via decreased vegetable intake. It may be a cause of picky eating, but picky eaters are not necessarily supertasters, and vice versa." [Source: Wikipedia]
Backstory: All of us here at Serious Eats HQ were surprised to receive envelopes in the mail today from Doug Cress, who recently set up Supertaster Test, a site that offers test kits to help you determine if you're a supertaster. They're $4.95, but we got ours as a surprise—good marketing on Cress's part, since here I am, taking the bait and writing about it.
I was making meatloaf in the Serious Eats kitchen while everyone else took theirs, otherwise I would have captured the full glory on video as Robyn made a presumably horrible face—she's a supertaster. I would have also captured Ed's disappointment at being a mere taster. Instead, I only got my own ugly mug on video.
Anyway, word is that Cress has sent these kits out to a number of food bloggers. There's a survey associated with the test, and Cress will be making the results public in a few weeks. Will be interesting to see who the super tasters are among the food blogging community.
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7 Comments:
This debate has been raging among a certain friend of mine and myself for a long time. We tried this test at a friend's party and ended up with hilarious but unhelpful results.
That's her in the pictures, by the way. I looked much more ridiculous but at least had the good sense to take the pictures rather than be in them.
LoDega at 6:01PM on 10/10/07
Dang, I wish I qualified for this test. People think I'm nuts because I can "taste" certain food colorings and additives.
cybele at 7:01PM on 10/10/07
Leite's Culinaria has an article on supertasters. He says it's a misnomer: it just means you have a strong reaction to bitter foods (ie vegetables) and most likely crave very fatty foods. I don't think I'm a "supertaster" because I love dark chocolate and vegetables. But I can taste food additives, like Cybele. I have a really adverse reaction to salt. So packaged foods and takeout Chinese are out for me.
thesu at 11:15PM on 10/10/07
cybele, you don't have to "qualify." just follow the link and send them $4.95.
carriebwc at 9:19AM on 10/11/07
Adam, that's a brilliant thought/comment about being a "taster" rather than a "supertaster."
wanderingeater at 10:15PM on 10/11/07
I took the test. 24 hours later, my fungiform papillea are still ringing like church bells from that horribly bitter horribleness. Adam, you are lucky you didn't taste it! My experiences are described at http://www.annienewman.typepad.com
annien at 6:26PM on 10/12/07
@wanderingeater: Well, I secretly wanted to be a supertaster, as I'm sure everyone does, so I had to spin it in Robyn "Supertaster" Lee's presence when I found out I was a Plain Ol' Taster.
@annien: Thanks for the link. I love reading about people's supertasteriness!
Adam Kuban at 4:09AM on 10/13/07