When People Complain About the Food

When customers complain about products available in a grocery store or at the market or when diners in a restaurant express dissatisfaction with a dish, it can almost always be traced back to mouthfeel. We seldom complain that something tastes bad. Instead we might say that the soufflé has collapsed, the meat is too tough, the French fries have gone soggy, the bread is dry, the coffee is tepid, the mustard lacks bite, and so on. Or we simply say that it is insipid. It is much easier to describe an unfulfilled expectation related to texture than one that concerns chemical sensations, such as taste and aroma. In addition, texture is often associated with the freshness of the raw ingredients and their proper preparation.