I Nerded Out in Front of My Family About This
The Fascinating Chemistry of Salt-Rimmed Margaritas
The Scene
I was out with my family last night to have dinner at a fancy restaurant that we love. The server came and asked the usual can I start you guys off with something to drink? Due to the fact that I am not old enough to drink, I usually order a mocktail at places like these. Yesterday, I was feeling like having a virgin margarita. After a few minutes, the server returned with the drink, held in a beautiful glass rimmed with salt. I took a sip, appreciating the initial hit of saltiness drinking the acidic beverage. I noticed that as soon as the drink hit my tongue, the saltiness pleasantly mellowed out instead of being washed away.
Huh, I wonder how that works.
I proceeded to Google this curious phenomenon, and I found some wicked cool science to share on medium. At the same time, I reflected on how much I love learning and writing about the involvement of scientific ideas in food and cooking. It’s the perfect union of my nerdy affection for science and the profound joy I get from having delicious food.
The Science
How Taste Works
Scientists call the sensory system for taste the gustatory system. The perception of taste starts on the tongue, from the thousands of tiny bumps on our tongue that are called taste buds. Each taste bud houses around 50~150 taste receptor cells (TRCs).
These cells allow us to detect the various chemical compounds brought into our mouths when we eat food, known as tastants. This process results in the five major tastes: sweet, salty, bitter, sour, and savory (or umami).
Sour & (Less) Salty
Our perception of sourness detects how acidic the tastant is. Scientists use the pH scale to measure this property. To give some perspective, lime juice has a pH of around 2~3, water has a pH of 7(neutral), and soap has a pH of 9~10. The lower the pH, the more acidic that substance is.
TRCs have special receptors that detect the presence of salt. When we eat salt, these receptors tell the cell that something salty has just entered our mouths. Then, the cell relays that information to our brains.
When we eat something salty with something sour, something interesting happens. The acidity of the sour food hinders the ability of those special receptors to detect the presence of salt. Thus, reducing the ability of the cell to tell our brains that we have eaten something salty. As a result, taste less saltiness.
Conclusion
Taste is a fascinatingly complex perception that we interact with in our everyday lives. Digging a little deeper into how we taste the foods we eat can reveal a wonderful world where chemistry, biology, and gastronomy all intersect. Today, we discussed how sour foods can decrease our perception of how salty something is.
So, the next time you take a sip of a nice margarita, or enjoy a bag of salt and vinegar chips, take a moment to appreciate the amazing science dancing on your tongue.
If you have any burning questions that you’ve always wondered, leave them in the responses.
I hope you find this world as fascinating as I do, because I love learning and communicating about it. I welcome any and all feedback about my writing. If you made it to this message, thank you so much for reading!
