Music causes us a lot of sensations, and this is well known by marketers, who carefully select the tunes that will play in the mall to encourage us to buy more. In the same way, it seems thatwe do not taste the same a dish according to the songthat is ringing.
The psychologist Charles Spence, from the University of Oxford, has spent many years dedicating his efforts to analyzing how the stimuli that we receive through the senses provoke sensations that make us enjoy more or less a specific experience, in this case food.
And no,there is no universal song to set us while we fill our stomachs. According to one of his latest research, each type of food must be accompanied by a very specific musical style. For Chinese food, it is best to listen to pop and, according to Spence, the songTaylor Swift’s Blank Space is the perfect choice. Nothing to do with Pavarotti, whose operas will make us taste a good plate of Italian pasta in style, or with Sinatra’s jazz, thanks to which sushi will taste much better. However, it seems thatlistening to justin bieber can ruin useven the most delicate delicacy.
To reach these conclusions, Spence recruited more than 700 volunteers who tried different dishes while playing one of thesix musical genres analyzed. After this, as the expert calls, “multisensory experience”, the participants evaluated from 1 to 10 the food tasted.
The professor, who suggests to home delivery restaurants the inclusion of a CD in their deliveries, has prepared for the Just Eat company aplay listwith musical recommendations for each menu:
Indian food: rock and indie music
- I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor – Arctic Monkeys
- Ever Fallin in Love? – The Buzzcocks
- Mr Brightside – The killers
Italian cuisine: classical music
- The Four Seasons – Vivaldi
- Nessun Dorma – Pavarotti
- William Tell – Rossini
Chinese food: pop
- Sing – Ed Sheeran
- Blank Space – Taylor Swift
- Never forget you – MNECK
Sushi: jazz
- Feeling Good – Nina Simone
- What a Wonderful World – Louis Armstrong
- Take five – Dave Brubeck
Thai: jazz
- One for my baby – Frank Sinatra
- Sing Sing Sing – Benny Goodman
- You and I – Michael Buble
Music is not the only element analyzed by Spence. The researcher has also studied how factors as imperceptible as the orientation of the elements of a plate or the shape of glasses can alter our perception of food. Not surprisingly, Spence has already advised chefs of the stature of Ferran Adriá, offering advice to improve the customer experience of his select restaurants.
