Beggars can’t be choosers, and at least once a week, I beg for chocolate.
But even given that most cocoa and sugar combinations are bound to taste great, I can’t help but notice ― don’t Easter eggs taste a little different to the regular kinds?
If you’ve noticed discrepancies between your favourite bar and its seasonal sphere version, however, you’re not imagining things.
It turns out they really DO taste different ― and we thought we’d share why.
Well, why then?
Part of it really is what your friends and family have probably already told you ― food tastes a bit different when it looks different.
A 2021 British Medical Journal study found that people perceive round objects as being creamier than square ones (I know, right?).
Then, there’s the smell. Thinner chocolate, which you have to use to form an egg shape, releases its scent easier than other kinds, food scientist Bernard Lahousse explains.
“The smaller the chocolate layer is, the easier the chocolate will melt,” he explains. “So that is the advantage of Easter eggs; they melt easily and the aromas of the chocolate come into your nose quite fast.”
Is that it?
Apparently not.
“If you look at food more than half of the experience lies outside of the taste,” Lahousse told MailOnline.
“You taste what you make out of it; when you wrap it in a nice package and it is presented to you by the people who love you, it will make the experience much better.”
Ann Murray, the managing director of LIR Chocolates, told The Mirror that colourful packaging can “add to the anticipation” too.
She adds, “A chocolate egg has a different quality to a bar. The egg is spun so that the chocolate is thinner and so melts easily in the mouth, releasing all of the cocoa notes.”
So, if you’re wondering “is the difference in my head, or is it actual science?” the answer is “yes.”