Taste: What we expect, and what we get

By Anonymous -

Image result for little italyThe taste of food, what we expect to taste and what we actually taste...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oAcVNxBbl1gImage result for table of bread
During Emerson's special "little Italy" day I sat at a table patiently waiting for the "hand stuffed cannoli station" to open. I sat with my roommate, and we waited for about 10 minutes until I gave in and tasted one of each types of bread from the bread display (as I waited for the cannoli's). What made me wait the 10 minutes? I couldn't tell from just looking if the rolls were still warm or if they were crunchy on the outside while flaky on the inside. I had to actually feel them in my hands, and break them a part to tell, but before I put them in my mouth I could almost feel the warm buttered bread touching my tongue...
Image result for cannoli cake boss

But back to the cannoli's, it was about an hour later when the cannoli station was all set up. My roommate rushed to grab each of us one, by the looks of them they were not exactly what I expected, they were missing the chocolate chips in the cannoli cream. This did not deter me from trying them, I had waited an hour and there was still hope that these cannoli's could be worth the wait. As I took my first bite I could already tell I was bound to be disappointed. The shell was not as crunchy as the cannoli's I have had in the past usually have, then the cream was so bland. At first I thought the filling was just lacking sugar, but this was not the case. In fact these cannoli's were not the real deal, I had waited an hour for frauds, they were made with whipped cream.  It is clear that I was not happy with what I tasted, my high expectations, and memories of what I remembered had lead me to believe I would thoroughly enjoy the cannoli, but in fact I could not bare to finish it. 
It dawned on me that this happens quite often, we imagine/ picture something to taste differently than it actually does. We can either be happily surprised or utterly disappointed. But when two people are served the same thing and one is disappointed and the other is not what does that mean? I was not expecting to taste whipped cream, I was expecting to taste cannoli filling which is why I was disappointed. People have different expectations for the foods they eat due to past experiences. 

This made me wonder about the connection between what we taste and what we remember. Are our memories sheerly based on what we are tasting or is it a mix between taste and experience? 


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