Can basic tastes, such as sweet, sour, bitter, salty, and possibly also umami, be conveyed by means of colour? If so, how should we understand the relationship between colours and tastes: Is it universal or relative, innate or acquired, unidirectional or bidirectional? Here, we review the growing body of scientific research showing that people systematically associate specific colours with particular tastes. We highlight how these widely shared bidirectional crossmodal correspondences generalize across cultures and stress their difference from synaesthesia (with which they are often confused). The various explanations that have been put forward to account for such crossmodal mappings are then critically evaluated. Finally, we go on to look at some of the innovative ways in which chefs, culinary artists, designers, and marketers are taking-or could potentially push further-the latest insights from research in this area as inspiration for their own creative endeavours.

Recent research demonstrates the existence of a number of surprising associations (otherwise known as crossmodal correspondences) between seemingly non-related features in different sensory modalities, such as between basic tastes and colours. These correspondences have been incorporated into a dish called ‘The Four Tastes’ by chef Jozef Youssef. The dish is presented with four separate elements, each having a distinctive colour. Diners are instructed to match the colour to the appropriate taste (bitter, sweet, salty and sour). After establishing the association, the modernist chef, molecular mixologist, food designer or culinary artist can then either choose to design tasting experiences that align with these crossmodal correspondences or else play against them (to create incongruency and surprise). The former strategy typically leads to increased liking, possibly as a result of the diner being able to process the sensory information more fluently. The latter, by contrast, can elicit disconfirmed expectations, which can result in positive or negative experiences. While surprise is something that a growing number of diners are coming to expect when they visit a modernist restaurant, it tends to be a much harder approach to implement successfully in other contexts. Here, we present the literature on colour/taste correspondences, and discuss the implications of crossmodal (in)congruence in food design.

Recent data indicate that up-to 30–40% of cancers can be prevented by dietary and lifestyle measures alone. Herein, we introduce a unique network-based machine learning platform to identify putative food-based cancer-beating molecules. These have been identified through their molecular biological network commonality with clinically approved anti-cancer therapies. A machine-learning algorithm of random walks on graphs (operating within the supercomputing DreamLab platform) was used to simulate drug actions on human interactome networks to obtain genome-wide activity profiles of 1962 approved drugs (199 of which were classified as “anti-cancer” with their primary indications). A supervised approach was employed to predict cancer-beating molecules using these ‘learned’ interactome activity profiles. The validated model performance predicted anti-cancer therapeutics with classification accuracy of 84–90%. A comprehensive database of 7962 bioactive molecules within foods was fed into the model, which predicted 110 cancer-beating molecules (defined by anti-cancer drug likeness threshold of >70%) with expected capacity comparable to clinically approved anti-cancer drugs from a variety of chemical classes including flavonoids, terpenoids, and polyphenols. This in turn was used to construct a ‘food map’ with anti-cancer potential of each ingredient defined by the number of cancer-beating molecules found therein. Our analysis underpins the design of next-generation cancer preventative and therapeutic nutrition strategies.

There can be little doubt that plating food beautifully is becoming ever more important in the world of high-end cuisine. However, there is a very real danger that all the attention to how a dish looks (or photographs) can end up obscuring the importance of temporal order to flavour perception. That is, there is an increasing tendency to prioritize plating elements in a dish so that they please the eyes of the beholder, rather than necessarily because they deliver the optimum balance of sensations to the palate. Relevant here is the fact that certain combinations of ingredients taste better when sampled simultaneously, or in a particular sequence, than when sampled in a different order. In this review, we examine the importance of sequencing and pairing taste/flavour sensations, both in the design of the meal itself, and when attempting to combine (or match) food and drink. We address the chemical, psychological, and computational strategies that have been suggested by those wishing to combine flavours for maximal impact. We evaluate three general principles of flavour matching: similarity-matching components based on common flavour compounds (or similar flavour profiles); contrast-combinations that are purposely chosen because they differ from each other (a strategy that is more common in the cuisine of some countries than others); and synergy (or emergence) -those combinations that together deliver new flavour experiences or else harmonize with one another. We argue that the psychological account (informed by an awareness of cultural differences), and to a lesser extent the chemical account, provides meaningful suggestions as far as effectively combining flavours is concerned.

There is widespread agreement that what some of the most innovative chefs have been doing over the last quarter century or so in the west deserves a name that highlights how things have moved on in the kitchens and dining rooms from the nouvelle cuisine movement. However, what no one can seem to agree on is what name should be given to this movement. The scientists and press have been keen to label it as the science of 'molecular gastronomy'. However, many of the top chefs, after in some cases initially embracing the idea, have distanced themselves from that moniker. In their pronouncements and interviews, the latter have been keen to stress that while they are interested in the findings of scientific research, what they do is better conceptualized as the art and craft of cooking. Many of the top chefs have been inspired by the results of the scientific research much as they are inspired by what is happening in many other fields of endeavour, from painting to jazz etc. Given that it is mostly not what the chefs do, it becomes increasingly unclear whether 'molecular gastronomy' is itself anything more than a 'glorified' sub-discipline of food science. We believe, along with several other commentators, that the most appropriate name for what distinguishes contemporary culinary practice is what can be labelled 'experimental cooking'. It is defined as much by its innovativeness, its novelty, its creativity, and by the way in which it engages with the diner's intellect and emotions (with the diner's brain in other words), as with their gut.