I ran across two items last week that illustrate a peculiar mistrust of pleasure in American life. The first is this article from the NY
Category: Philosophy of Food and Wine
The Travails of Wine and Food Criticism
According to a recent study, when loud music is playing, alcohol tastes sweeter and we more easily misjudge alcoholic strength. If you have spent much
Real Men Don’t Eat Fiddly Foods!
Esquire’s “Eat Like a Man” blog features John Mariani confidently contending that cooking is a craft, never an art. Thus, imagination and creativity go into
Spices, the Meaning of Life, and Calvinism (all in one post)
Most cuisines can be identified by the characteristic flavors they use to enhance their dishes: Chili peppers, tomato, and lime in Mexico; soy sauce, rice
Pairing Principles: At Last Some Empirical Confirmation
I’ve been intrigued by the question of whether there are principles that explain why certain flavors work well together while others don’t. Is it just
Tasteless Philosophy
Despite being preoccupied with analyzing sensory experience, philosophers have ignored taste, smell, and touch, focusing instead on vision (and to a degree sound) as the
Exploring the Philosophy of Food and Wine 