When we think of our fondest food memories what triggers the satisfaction?  Is it the memory of taste or smell?  It's probably a combination of both sensations plus texture and sight, but when we walk into a kitchen though, the smell of our favorite food cooking definitely hits us first.  Jacques Pepin, one of the most famous modern chefs said, "It's much more powerful when the memory of an event comes through the senses, particularly smell."

 Scientists who study these senses have concluded that when we eat 70%-90% of our "taste" experience is really an "aroma" experience.  Though the mouth has over a million cells designated to analyze tastes and send the information to our brains we really perceive only five distinct tastes-sour, salty, bitter, sweet, and umami.   The sense of smell is more primal and seemingly more complicated.