Studies have proposed that it's an issue of production and recipe creation; that manufacturers are forgetting that the experience of food is multi-sensory so when they produce a low-fat version something is 'missing' to the senses. Others propose that ther may be an evolutionary bias towards preferring fat-laden foods, for energy and survival purposes.
Mouthfeel is the experience of food when we eat it. How do our tastebuds, our teeth, our tongues interact with the morsels we eat? The experience of letting gorgeous chocolate melt in your mouth; the crisp freshness of a dry white after a hard day; the indulgence in oily pasta with cheese and garlic bread. I conducted a mouthfeel experiment with my daughter today; to compare and contrast the mouthfeel of two similar products with very different fat content:
My eldest had Bacon flavour Batchelor's Super Noodles. I had the low fat Chilli Chicken flavour.
The appearance was similar; my noodles slightly lighter in appearance both before and after cooking. Her noodles were more gelatinous, sticking together when they started to cool, whereas mine didn't. The price was the same. The difference? Taste-wise mine tasted like minced cardboard, dry in texture and almost flavourless. Hers tasted 'yummy', apparently. The difference in fat? For half a pack, my 0.8g trounced her 11.8g (how much?!). So fatwise, it was worth it. Flavour-wise? I don't think so. the mouth feel wasn't there for me. I didn't enjoy it.
Admittedly noodles aren't the creamiest of foodstuffs, but the difference was still fairly marked for us. Looks like noodles (or taste) is off the menu for the duration of the challenge then...
Scientists are working on the problem, in experiments altering the ratio of oil and water in food while retaining the creamy feel and texture of the food and reducing the fat content by half. Watch this space...
What I ate today:
Shreddies with milk
A bagel with EL Philly and ham (I visited an understanding friend!). I did have a bite of my daughter's sausage roll, and also a Butternut Squash pastry from Waitrose.
I had a Shapers snack mid-afternoon.
Dinner was the aforementioned low fat supernoodles and prawns
Feeling thoroughly unsatisfied I cracked open the Ben & Jerry's again
Exercise of the day:
I don't think I did one!
Product of the day:
The Supernoodles. Bah.
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