This Easter, traditional luxury cruise line Cunard has teamed up with a leading University of Oxford professor to explain exactly why many people’s favourite sweet treat, chocolate, tastes better at sea.
Together with Professor Charles Spence, a leading gastrophysicist from the University of Oxford, Cunard has revealed why many passengers taking a Cunard cruise over the Easter Bank Holiday weekend may have their tastebuds tingling while eating a chocolate egg, or two!
Apparently, according to Professor Charles, food and beverages will taste better when we’re having a good time (definitely like on a Cunard cruise!). This is known as the ‘Provencal rose paradox’, something which everyone, which Professor Spence claims, has experienced a version of in their life.
He explains: “It relates to the fact that food and drink seem to taste so much better when we are on holiday, whether this is with our family in the Mediterranean, or travelling solo with the sun on our backs. So nice in fact, that we are even tempted to buy a few bottles of that same holiday wine, to bring back home and share on a cold winter’s evening.
“Only it never tastes the same; it is disappointing somehow. The reason is that when we are on holiday, we are likely to be relaxed and in a better mood, and food simply tastes better when we are in a better mood. Given that people don’t often cruise for work, they are likely to be happy and relaxed on their cruise hence making food and drink taste better.”
But that’s not all…
The sound, smell, and even the noises of the sea may also enhance the flavour of your chocolate eggs too! Professor Spence says that these sensations may conceptually prime notions of saltiness, which is well known to enhance the taste and suppress the bitterness of foods – all ideal for bringing out the sweet flavours of chocolate.
Professor Spence said: “Looking out on the sea while simultaneously smelling and hearing the ocean, is all likely to prime saltiness, leading to a more cognitive form of taste enhancement. In an experiment I conducted with a leading chef a few years ago, we were able to show that hearing the sounds of the sea made seafood taste better, so why not chocolate as well?”
Research has also shown that when we are close to and viewing blue water, it has a tremendous beneficial effect on our social, cognitive, and emotional well-being. The taste of sea salt and chocolate combined with the mood and well-being enhancing effect of being physically nearby water likely suggests that chocolatey treats will in fact taste better on a cruise!
Cunard is treating passengers onboard their three Queens this Easter to a range of decadent sweet treats – from smooth chocolate cocktails to thousands of sweet chocolate bunnies!
Lee Powell, Vice President, Brand and Product at Cunard, explains: “Special occasions deserve special ingredients, and when it comes to Easter, the onboard teams on each of our three Queens go above and beyond to create a suitably indulgent celebration.
“Our skilled chefs will be creating incredibly elegant chocolate figurines and desserts, our bars will be serving chocolate cocktails and guests will enjoy chocolate treats across the weekend, including a total of almost 6,500 chocolate bunnies!“
