Ordering an Italian main course? Try spring rolls as starter for a delightful experience, as a new study suggests that the key to enjoying a meal is to mix and match different cuisines.
Jacob Lahne, an assistant professor at Drexel University in the US, found that a categorical mismatch of cuisine could result in an overall more enjoyable meal.
Lahne tested and analysed subjects' hedonic (liking) responses to a main dish of "pasta aglio e olio" (pasta with garlic and oil) after they had either an appetiser of Italian minestrone or Thai tom kha soup.
In one case the appetiser matched the cuisine type of the main dish and in the second was a clearly different cuisine.
By introducing two versions of each soup, one good (made with better quality ingredients) and one mediocre - Lahne was able to test the differences in response to the main dish depending on the soup's cuisine type and quality.
The research found that subjects liked the main dish and the overall meal more when they had a mediocre Italian soup to start.
Conversely, they enjoyed the main dish and meal less when they started with the good Italian soup. This effect did not occur when subjects started with the Thai soup - liking for the pasta dish did not change with the Thai soup quality.
With that in mind, restaurants now have evidence that a main course may be negatively affected by an appetiser that is "too good," researchers said.
However, by actively varying dishes by cuisine type, a negative response to the overall meal could improve, or be avoided altogether.
The study was published in the journal Food Quality and Preference.
Disclaimer: No Business Standard Journalist was involved in creation of this content
