Peter Klosse is somewhat of a mad genius. And what he’s attempting to do, may seem impossible, but through scientific rigor and a lot of eating, he’s on the verge of cracking the code on taste.
Klosse is a taste scientist and he and a team of researchers are endeavoring to quantify taste through objective methods. Klosse has broken taste down into subcategories to be able to measure attributes of deliciousness that includes mouthfeel, aroma, balance, naming, presentation, and the ever-elusive umami.
So, what does this have to do with Italian food? Well, everything. If we can live in world where Italian chefs have a baseline for why their food tastes good, they can take their authentic methods of cooking the best food in the world up to an entirely new level.
Klosse recently spoke in a webinar conference for World Sustainable Gastronomy Day alongside Barilla VP of Nutrition and Wellbeing Dondeena Bradley, How to be a Conscious Eater author Sophie Egan, and Sara Roversi from the Future Food Institute.
After the conference, we spoke to Klosse to dive deeper into the science of taste:
Right off the bat, I would love to understand how you differentiate subjective taste from objective taste.
Well, first of all, consider that it is possible to do it. And then the next step is, of course, look at other senses. And realize that in color and sound, we have done exactly that, and we have all kinds of standards and measures to really help us understand what sound and color really constitutes. Isn’t it worthwhile to really try to uncover whether that could be possible to also find a way to structure taste like sound and like vision? That's what we're trying to do. We're trying to find the frequencies and intensities of taste. And I believe that we're on our path and even dare say that we are well on our way there, I really don't care to promise yet that we are going to arrive at the destination. But it's a very nice journey.
Let’s talk about Italian food. In your experience, what works well in the Italian world? What are you seeing that is innovative in the science?
I once drove from the north to Bologna [with some Italian friends], and we talked for about two and a half hours only on food. Specifically, it was on how to make the right carbonara, and more specifically, how that differs from street to street and from city to city. And I believe there are very few countries in the world that still have this cultural heritage of food and therefore it is very important to start there because once an Italian starts talking about food he knows so much more than anyone else.
You still have that connection between what's right and wrong in the food and regionality and how to make your food as delicious as can be. But there’s also the not so inventive or not so innovative side because these beliefs are very much engraved in stone. And I'm not saying this as a criticism because there's a lot to be proud of, but the risk of being very fond of your culture is that you're not really looking at what can be improved, and what maybe would help the world a little better.
What are your thoughts on a Mediterranean diet as far as in the way you look at food?
Well, first of all, it's not a diet. It's an approach to life. And I believe that the Mediterranean diet shouldn't be taken too seriously because what people say constitutes the Mediterranean diet, olive oil, fish, etc., that would suggest that the Chinese, all the Indians, all the people in North America, all the people in Greenland, have no opportunity whatsoever to survive because they're away from the olives and away from the sea. I believe what the Mediterranean diet is really about is being careful how you live and use the products around you and take your time to cook and take time to eat and talk and be at the table. And I believe that is the essence of the Mediterranean diet. I believe that all people that implement in their lives, a healthy standard of using good ingredients, ingredients that are in season, that are well prepared, possibly from as organic a source as possible. So, good ingredients, well prepared at home, and taking the time to eat. If that is the essence of the Mediterranean diet, then let the whole world be a Mediterranean. But if the essence would be only olive oil and no other oils and only fish, and no other species, I don't really believe that’s what it is.