A fascinating and deeply researched investigation into the mysteries of flavor—from the first bite taken by our ancestors to scientific advances in taste and the current “foodie” revolution.<BR><BR>Taste has long been considered the most basic of the five senses because its principal mission is a simple one: to discern food from everything else. Yet it’s really the most complex and subtle. Taste is a whole-body experience, and breakthroughs in genetics and microbiology are casting light not just on the experience of french fries and foie gras, but the mysterious interplay of body and brain.<BR> <BR>With reporting from kitchens, supermarkets, farms, restaurants, huge food corporations, and science labs, <I>Tasty</I> tells the story of the still-emerging concept of flavor and how our sense of taste will evolve in the coming decades. <I>Tasty</I> explains the scientific research taking place on multiple fronts: how genes shape our tastes; how hidden taste perceptions weave their way into every organ and system in the body; how the mind assembles flavors from the five senses and signals from body’s metabolic systems; the quest to understand why sweetness tastes <I>good</I> and its dangerous addictive properties; why something disgusts one person and delights another; and what today’s obsessions with extreme tastes tell us about the brain.<BR> <BR>Brilliantly synthesizing science, ancient myth, philosophy, and literature, <I>Tasty</I> offers a delicious smorgasbord of where taste originated and where it’s going—and why it changes by the day.