Joël Broekaert in Search of the Five Tastes

Sweet, salty, bitter, sour and umami. What exactly is the difference between these five tastes, and why do we like one so much more than the other? Culinary journalist (and number 21 in the FavorFlav Food Top 100) Joël Broekaert was curious about this too and set out to investigate.

Each episode of De vijf smaken van Joël focuses on a different taste. For example, he goes back to his first experience with sweetness by tasting breast milk again. He investigates why children often find bitter tastes unpleasant, while adults do not, and how we therefore “learn to taste” flavours.

Joël is not only looking for the tastes themselves, but also examines what happens when we combine flavours. What does the combination of salty and sweet do, for example? Why do we like salted caramel so much? If you’re looking for us, we’ll be sitting in front of the TV every Tuesday.

From 2 January, every Tuesday at 9:15 p.m. on NPO2

Image: KRO-NCRV