The Taste of Home

Diane Fresquez

Do men and women experience taste and smell differently? What happens when you eat a meal in complete darkness? And what makes something “taste like home?”

Moved by a death in the family to recreate the dishes her mother prepared in her childhood home, food and arts journalist and former Wall Street Journal special correspondent Diane Fresquez embarked on a year-long journey to investigate the links between taste, memory and the molecular building blocks of what we eat. Along the way, she meets a brewery owner who developed a banana-flavored beer designed to appeal to young women and an entrepreneurial beekeeper who won’t rest until he develops the perfect mead, the ancient liquor considered the ancestor of all fermented drinks. She also encounters a young mother and PhD student whose research shows that what a woman eats can influence the flavour of her breast milk, and a scientist in the Netherlands who researches flavour and memory at an Orwellian university lab called The Restaurant of the Future. A lighthearted and charming introduction to the world of flavor and sensory science, The Taste of Home will delight foodies and scientists alike. Recipes included!

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