Tales of the Talking Tiger

My mum dislikes chocolate, however the rest of my family (and I would guess 98% of the people who have ever tasted chocolate) would eat it every day if it had anything close to a respectable nutritional value. Similarly, my Dad loves liquorice yet the rest of my family won’t go near it.

Perhaps part of the answer to my question is upbringing – if we are exposed to particular foods we are more likely to enjoy eating them. Yet my mum’s brothers and sisters haven’t inherited the same dislike for chocolate, and I’ve eaten my fair share of liquorice and it does nothing for me.

Which leads me to conclude (based on my highly scientific analysis) that different foods generate a different taste sensation for different people. Why else would my mum have such an aversion to chocolate? The interesting question then, is what taste sensation is she experiencing when she eats chocolate, and how is it different to yours or mine?