charles’ fugue

DIY

do it yourself multisensory dining experiments

“as infants, we begin to experience new tastes by exploring our tactile senses. it is, in a sense, our original obsession.”

—Hortense Koster

Charles’ Fugue uses sensory stimulants to provoke the brain,

altering the perception of taste while dining. This booklet

includes one food experiment for each of the five senses.

Use it to realize and explore qualities of food beyond flavor

and to further your understanding of sensory overlaps.

cf diy

an experiment in touch

gather:

ice cream

coffee

2 bowls

2 mugs

refrigerator

microwave

water

The tastebuds are more sensitive to high temperatures.

Since ice cream is consumed frozen, manufacturers add

copius amounts of sweetener, rendering warmed ice cream

extremely sweet. Bitter coffee is more flavorful when hot,

and much less so when cool.

1. Place one scoop of ice cream in each bowl.

2. Microwave one bowl of ice cream for 15 seconds, until ice

cream is fairly melted.

3. Taste the cold ice cream. Cleanse your palate with water and

taste the warm ice cream.

4. Refrigerate one mug for 40 minutes.

5. Pour a second mug of hot coffee.

6. Taste the cold coffee. Cleanse your palate with water and

taste the warm coffee.

gather:

potato

apple

pear

potato peeler

knife

blindfold

The sense of smell is approximately 10,000 times more

sensitive than that of taste. Unplugging your nose allows

aroma to fill your nostrils, and the potato, apple, and pear

become obviously distinguishable even with a blindfold.

Next time you want to force yourself to eat an unpleasant

tasting food, such as broccoli, try plugging your nose and

you won’t taste a thing.

1. Peel the potato, apple, and pear.

2. Cut the peeled vegetable and fruits into small slices.

3. Blindfold yourself or a friend.

4. Plug your nose while eating the slices. Attempt to determine

which food you are eating without releasing your nose.

cf diy

an experiment in scent

cf diy

an experiment in taste

gather:

non-iodized table salt

Accent flavor enhancer

2 cups

2 spoons

Tasting the salt water should taste salty. The Accent

water should taste salty, as well, but it retains a meatier,

brothier flavor—umami. It fills the mouth and leaves a

lingering taste.

Accent, or monosodium glutamate, is the pure form of

umami and is found in the spice aisle at most grocery stores.

1. Measure 1/8 teaspoon of salt into cup 1.

2. Measure 3/4 teaspoon of Accent into cup 2.

3. Fill each cup with 2/3 cup of warm water and stir until the

salt and the Accent dissolve.

4. Taste the salt water.

5. Taste the Accent water.

cf diy

an experiment in sight

gather:

5 transparent glasses

apple juice

lemonade

white grape juice

cranberry juice

pear juice

food coloring

unsalted crackers

friend

Adding the food coloring creates colored juices that still

appear very natural. Because of this, your taster most likely

assumes the juices are what they look like, even after tasting

them. This is because the brain makes many connections

based on sight alone.

1. Pour 1/4 cup of each juice into its own glass.

2. Add the following food coloring to the juices: 2 drops of red

to apple, 1/2 drop of red to lemonade, 1 drop of red and 1 drop

of yellow and 1 drop of blue to white grape, 1 drop of red and

1 drop of blue to cranberry, 1 drop of yellow to pear.

3. Ask a friend to sample the juices and guess what they are as

specifically as possible, cleansing the palate with crackers

between drinks.

* It may be helpful to note which juice is which for your reference.

cf diy

an experiment in sound

gather:

salted saltine crackers

headphones

metal song

As volume increases, the perceived taste of food decreases.

While raising the volume slightly each time you bite the

crackers, you may not notice this change, but it certainly

becomes apparent once you immediately eliminate loud

music. Additionally, the crackers probably seem crunchier

as the volume is brought up.

1. Place the headphones on your ears and begin playing an

upbeat, thrashing heavy metal song at a low volume.

2. Begin eating the crackers.

3. Between each bite, raise the volume of the music slightly.

Continue this until you can no longer hear much outside noise.

* Stop raising the volume if the music begins to hurt your ears.

4. Take off the headphones and taste the crackers again.

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