Question: Does soy sauce does belong on the perfect burger?
Answer: Yes. Well, according to a little thing called SCIENCE, it does. In fact, here is what the ‘perfect burger’ looks like:
There are lots of ingredients (and a few notable exclusions) in Oxford University food scientist and 'perception expert' Charles Michel's perfect "multi-sensory balanced burger". And some of them are, well, odd.
Wait. Back up. What exactly is a "multi-sensory' perfect burger anyway? Have hipsters finally inherited the earth?
No, thankfully there's a much less terrifying explanation. According to Science Alert, the site that originally reported Michel's findings, the perfect burger is about more than its ingredients. As well, we need to appreciate it with our five senses simultaneously.
“Science has shown that deliciousness is a perception created by our brains with stimulation coming from all the senses, and not only a sensation happening in our mouth," Michel said recently. "We actually ‘taste’ food with all of our senses and it is scientifically inaccurate to just think about the taste of foods when discussing deliciousness.”
I was ready to be the first one to put my hand and say 'what a load of shit', but maybe he's onto something. Plus, who are we to argue with Science?
According to Michel the perfect burger:
Must be 7 cm tall (so you can taste all of the layers at once);
Is 5 cm wide (for the same reason);
Consist of the following nine layers:
But there's more to enjoying this burger than just the eating (sorry - it was presumptuous of me to think it's all about, you know, the primal need to fill one's stomach). The same research found ambience and the way you eat the burger is just as important. Here's how to do it right:
