Sitting in a local restaurant, having dinner with a friend, a silly question came to my mind; and, of course, I couldn?t help asking him: do you think there is some kind of direct relation between your favourite flavour and your personality?

Only after the question was posed, did we start an animated conversation about taste, about? Asian coisine. And we didrealized how different we are regarding flavours among other things.

Actually, trying to answer the silly question, a list of hypothesis was formulated. Are those who have a sweet tooth, who cannot avoid the temptation of eating a moist cake or a delicious ice-cream, the sensitive or gentle kind? On the other hand, if someone is a fan of sourness, and for example enjoys savouring lemon or vinegar, are they irreverent and pungent when it comes to their way of talking? Furthermore, do preferences for spicy and salty meals reveal a more optimistic or extrovert personality?

It seems that not until these questions are formulated by some researcher from a well-known University, will we have a possible answer. Meanwhile, we know that there are four basic flavours: sweet, sour, salty, and bitter. Although in my last online search I found that there is a new one flavour called ?umami?. The term was introduced by the Japanese Kikunae Ikeda to refer to a savoury, brothy or meaty taste.

Yet, going back to the silly question, there are different kinds of personalities according to experts. However, only the four kinds found by researchers from different Spanish Universities can be taken in account. According to them, people can be classified as optimistic, pessimistic, trusting or envious. Therefore, what would be the correspondence between the four basic tastes and the four basic personalities?

A far as I am concerned, the match is done. Nonetheless, although I will come back to the topic, have you ever thought of the relationship between your favourite flavours and your own personality traits?

 

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