Expectations and surprise in a molecular gastronomic meal

Effects of verbal presentations on the experience of 11 molecular gastronomic dishes were studied. The four types of verbal presentations were (1) a short title representing the dish, (2) title and a hedonically evocative description, (3) title and information about the applied culinary processes, (4) title and information about the sensory experiences in the dish. Least liked dishes were those created to be completely novel and very unusual. However, they received high scores in the three statements: ‘Curiosity’ due to their presentation; displaying ‘Surprising’ elements; and ‘Challenging’ the senses. In contrast, dishes that referred to or related to familiar and classical foods were most liked. The type of verbal presentation affected ‘Liking’, ‘Surprising’ and ‘Challenging’, but not in a straightforward manner. Interaction effects between these statements and the 11 dishes were found. Dishes presented by process information were in general more liked, more surprising and more challenging while dishes presented with hedonically evocative and experience information generated the lowest ratings for the same statements. For Liking, the type of presentation was more important for least liked dishes than most liked dishes.