The text discusses how the taste can be affected by different foods and drinks, noting that some foods can make beer or wine taste better. It explains how spices and flavors are added to make bland foods more palatable. Additionally, it mentions that tobacco smoking influences taste, making beer more soothing and preferable to some people.
Human Limbs.
It follows that the taste is nearly lost. Similarly, when food or drink flavors the tongue, some foods allow beer to taste better, while others enhance the wine's flavor. Indeed, everyone may find the flavor more pleasing in one food than another. Because some foods are bland and soft, they hardly stimulate the tongue, and thus have little to no flavor. They are then enhanced with various sharp things like salt, pepper, vinegar, lime juice, spices, sugar, ajwain, and aromatic sauces to make them more lively and flavorful. This relates to culinary art science.
The tongue, when long exposed to tobacco smoke, gets irritated and pricked, opening the pores and causing the tongue's skin to become raw; thus, beer, acting like a soft oil, soothes the tongue and mellows the irritation, making it taste very good. Consequently, beer drinking gives a more pleasant sensation on the tongue than wine, which is why tobacco users often seek it. Although rinsing with wine isn't often preferred as it may strain finances, even though it rarely diminishes the taste. Notably, in terms of tobacco smoking, sweeter and milder beers taste much better than old, hard-aged beers. Therefore, the Amsterdam proverb that a pipe of tobacco with a small Rotterdam drink isn't a lie confirms this. To understand these tastes, one must know the preferences in food and drink and what enhances the taste.
Translation Notes: The term used for enhancing food flavors (in Dutch culinary references) indicates a focus on 'making dishes lively and flavorful,' reflecting historic culinary practices rather than modern cooking techniques.