Ever wonder why your morning coffee tastes best in your favorite mug? Or why pizza’s flavor changes when you eat it with a knife and fork instead of your hands? You’re not imagining things. The weight, color, size, and shape of your cutlery can influence the way your food tastes, according to a recent study.
Researchers at Oxford University conducted three experiments to find out how cutlery affects flavor. In two, participants sampled yogurt with spoons of varying sizes, weights, styles, and colors. In the third experiment, researchers tested to see whether eating cheese with a fork, knife, spoon, or toothpick would make a difference, taste-wise.
Even though each participant tried the same food repeatedly with different utensils, they said that the yogurt or cheese tasted different every time. When eaten with a lighter spoon, yogurt tasted denser and seemed more expensive, for example. Smaller spoons, meanwhile, tended to make the yogurt taste sweeter. And cheese was perceived as sharpest and saltiest when eaten off of a knife.
So, why does cutlery matter if the food stays the same? “We have expectations of what something will taste like before the food reaches our mouths,” says Harrar. “When cutlery is unexpected, we can’t use this automatic system.” So depending on the utensil, you’re more likely to pay attention to different aspects of the flavor or texture that might normally go unnoticed.
Pretty interesting stuff. Not that it’s any reason to go splurge on new cutlery, but it does help explain why you always reach for the same spoon over and over again.
More from Women’s Health:
Mindful Eating: Clean (Up) Your Plate
5 Ways to Trick Yourself Into Eating Less
How Greek Is Your “Greek” Yogurt?