If you love cheese (and, really, who doesn’t?) you might wanna pair your next slice with a hearty serving of Drake. According to a new study, hip hop actually makes cheese taste better. Seriously.
For the study, Swiss researchers placed nine wheels of emmental cheese weighing 22 pounds each in separate wooden crates and exposed them to different types of music for 24 hours a day over the course of six months. Some of the wheels were exposed to classical music (Mozart’s “Magic Flute” opera), others to rock (Led Zeppelin’s “Stairway to Heaven”), ambient music (Yello’s “Monolith”), techno (Vril’s “UV.), and hip hop (A Tribe Called Quest’s “We Got it From Here”). One “control cheese” was left in silence.
At the end, a “a star-studded panel of judges, featuring artists, chefs and politicians” did a blind taste test and concluded that hip hop had the best impact on the cheese, making it slightly sweeter. “The differences were very clear, in term of texture, taste, the appearance, there was really something very different,” Benjamin Luzuy, a Swiss TV chief who was on the panel, told Reuters.
Setting aside the 4,923 follow-up questions we have—how does one even get the idea to experiment on the affect that sound has on the flavor of cheese? Who funded this project? Is this an April Fool’s joke from the scientific community to show us how gullible we’ve become? Most importantly, how does the music affect flavor?—it’s important to note that this study is, by all accounts, backed by some very real science.
Titled “Cheese in Surround Sound,” the study posits that “the bio-acoustic impact of sound waves affects metabolic processes in cheese, to the point where a discernible difference in flavor becomes apparent.”
There’s also also evidence to suggest that sound affects our own sense of taste. “Sonic seasoning” is a growing scientific field that claims the kind of music you listen to while eating impacts how you perceive the saltiness and sweetness of the food.
But that’s not all. There’s also something called Sonochemistry, which is the study of how ultrasound impacts chemical reactions and processes. We already know that sound waves have an effect on plant growth, and since cheese is also essentially a chemical reaction, it’s actually not that great of a scientific leap to say that music can have an effect on its taste as well.
Who knew? Regardless, be sure to crank up that Drake album as your prepare for your next fondue party. And if you love all these cheese, then don’t miss 20 Cheese Puns So Cheesy You’re Gruyere-nteed to Laugh!
To discover more amazing secrets about living your best life, click here to follow us on Instagram!
