Rasa

In the Cheese business it is important to be able to efficiently express how something “Tastes”. We refer to taste, flavor and aroma in our Cheese descriptions and often when communicating with our clientele.  For these reasons we offer this short description on how we define Taste.

The perception of Taste is a complex thought assembled in a part of the brain called the gustatory cortex. In the gustatory cortex the flavor, aroma, texture, and temperature  of a food are combined with nerve impulses and memories you have giving you Taste.

There are an estimated 10,000 Taste buds located mainly on our tongue but also on the roof of our mouths, sides and back of the mouth as well as in the throat. These Taste buds give us the ability to detect sweet, sour, bitter, salty and umami flavors.

Our olfactory sensory neurons located on the roof of the nasal cavity above and behind the nostrils give us the ability to detect aromas. It is believed that the human olfactory system may be able to discern from up to 1 trillion different aromas.

Nerve Impulses also add to ones perception of taste by providing information from nerves that register, heat, capsicum (spicy), and metallic elements in our food

To grade and assess our products our cheese makers and tasting panels use the following Cheese Flavor Wheel.  Although many of these aromas may sound unappetizing, in very low strength they can be critical parts of complex cheese flavors.