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Chef Jozef Youssef, Creative Director at Kitchen Theory, shares some frightening food facts to spook you this season. As a chef with a keen interest in the psychological and the sensory relationship we humans have with food, I’m naturally interested in the emotions and feelings that can be stirred by food experiences. In many cases our favourite and most memorable food moments come from positive experiences, but we’ve all had negative food experiences too. Both positive and negative experiences shape our eating habits, our likes and dislikes, and develop our palate. But beyond these everyday emotions towards food, we also have food fears, and as it is Halloween, we thought this is the perfect time to explore this topic! If the idea of being afraid of foods seems a bit extreme, just think about eating some raw chicken, most people find this quite a scary prospect (except for instance those who eat raw chicken meat as ‘sushi’ in Japan). Other examples may include the thought of eating insects, fungus, rotten mouldy foods or other foods we consider foreign to our diet. Having such rational fears has been extremely important to our survival as a species. Since hunter gatherer times we have had to use our senses to assess the safety of eating the foods we found in nature. Any visual evidence of damage or spoilage, as well as smelly aromas, the taste of bitterness or even sourness can be an indication of food which is poisonous and/or nutritionally unappealing. And while we may now be living in a much safer period of food preparation, these sensory perceptions are still imbedded in our psyche. |
Dangerous foods
Some readers will have heard of or perhaps seen (on social media) the Korean dish san-nakji which consists of ‘live’ baby octopus dressed in sesame oil and sesame seeds, being consumed by intrepid eaters. While the octopus is killed before serving, its nerve activity gives the illusion that it is still moving. This dish comes with a warning; several incidents of choking on san-nakji have been reported, one in 2008 in Gwangju and at least one death in 2010. But this isn’t the only dish in which one is dabbling with life and death, another popular example is fugu (aka pufferfish) a renowned delicacy in both Japanese and Korean culinary traditions, typically prepared as sashimi or as an ingredient in nabemono, a type of hot pot dish. However, fugu is extremely poisonous and restaurants take this seriously, and there are laws and rules about how fugu is prepared with only licenced chefs who’ve trained for at least three years allowed to handle it. If you try to prepare it at home without knowing what you’re doing, things can go really wrong, and there have been cases where people accidentally poisoned themselves or others. So, leave it to the experts when it comes to fugu!
Psychological fear
But beyond the fear of poisonous foods, there are ingredients which we may have a fear of because of the psychological association we have the ingredient in question. Take for example jellyfish, an ingredient popular in many parts of Asia, which research shows could in fact be one the most sustainable seafoods we could consume. Since 2016, diners who have attended my Kitchen Theory Chef’s Table experience, will have been served jellyfish in some form or another. For many this is a unique and sometimes challenging experience, because even though it is delicious and totally safe to consume (there is no chance of getting stung!), the idea of eating jellyfish seems somewhat scary.
It is also fascinating to discover that our psychological fears can go beyond our own perception, by that I mean there are certain fears we unknowingly have, fears that are more primal or intuitive in nature. Take for example the research conducted by Oxford University which demonstrated that if there is a sharp object on a plate – say for example the claws of a lobster or a sharp shard of sugar decoration on a plate – if the dish is served with the sharp element pointing towards the diner, they will most likely (intuitively) rotate the plate away from themselves, why? Because as human being we dislike sharp objects being pointed towards us, yes even on a plate of food!
Food Neophobia
Even outside of the really scary stuff, there are more basic forms of food fears. Sensory experiences related to taste, smell, texture, and overall flavour play a significant role in food fears, including what is termed ‘food neophobia’, defined as the fear of trying new or unfamiliar foods. It is often rooted in sensory factors. Research suggests that individuals with higher levels of food neophobia may be more sensitive to certain sensory attributes of food, such as taste, texture, or aroma. This heightened sensitivity can lead to greater concerns, anxiety, and a fear of unfamiliar foods. Some individuals have heightened sensitivity to bitter tastes, which can lead to aversions to certain foods like vegetables. Others may be sensitive to strong or unusual flavours, which can contribute to food avoidance behaviours.
Sensory fears
Just think about how you instinctually sniff an unfamiliar food before you try eating it, we all do it, but why? Because our sense of smell is closely tied to food fears. Unpleasant or unfamiliar odours can trigger aversions to specific foods. People with heightened olfactory sensitivity may be more prone to food aversions based on smell. We’ve all smelt some rotten item of food and had our gag-reflex kick-in or made us feel nauseous.
And as we are discussing food fears, we must highlight texture. Texture aversion is another aspect of sensory psychology related to food fears, as we all have textures we really enjoy (most people like crispy crunchy foods, like French fries) and we all have textures we dislike (gristly, slimy, mushy textures are often disliked by western palates).
So as it’s Halloween, perhaps it’s the right time to challenge yourself to overcome both the physical and psychological hurdles of trying a food that scares you.
