Over the years, Laura has asked me to come an provide a lecture to her class in Sensation & Perception (Psychology). In keeping with the subject , I usually present something involving the various senses and something — hopefully — I know a little about. I’ve discussed: Luca Turin and the basics of Perfumes, the history and variations of chocolate and most recently…. spices. In each case, I offer an exploration of the subject to the student. With perfume, I ask them to identify from various esters the components of popular fragrances; with chocolate, they come to know a bit about grading and what constitutes quality chocolate; and with spices, I ask them to identify the complex ingredients in a Scandinavian Christmas cookie.
CLICKING on the above picture you will get the idea of some of the key ideas that we discussed in a powerpoint … some of the material is my own, while I did ‘borrow’ a bit from here and there. I also placed a few references with links at the end.
Spices do a lot more than just make food taste better!