London - The thought of musicians serenading you as you eat may make your stomach churn.
But listening to music during a meal will actually make your food taste better, according to a study.
Psychologists have found that “sonically seasoning” your meal by listening to music from the same country as your food enhances the flavour.
And listening to classical music will make your wine taste more expensive.
But while slow music causes flavour sensations to last longer, up tempo tunes mean they diminish faster on the palate – and too much bass makes food seem bitter, the Oxford University researchers found.
Experimental psychologist Professor Charles Spence said the study showed a French dish tasted better with an accompaniment of French accordion, while Italian composer Puccini improved the flavour of a pasta dish. The results were replicated for German, Spanish and Greek food.
He added: “We taste with our senses, not our mouths – our tongues do not taste food but actually our brain gets the mouth ready for flavour experiences.
“The environment around us has a substantial effect on our culinary experience – music can cleanse the palate, can influence and change taste and can heighten your experience.”
The research also found that the more you like the music, the more you will like your food – known as “sensation transference”.
Professor Spence said: “The idea is that we transfer what we feel about the music to what we think about the food and drink.”
Daily Mail