Researchers in Japan have created a synthesizer that creates different flavors on the tongue using gels. These 5 gels are made from agar gum, each one responsible for creating one of the five flavors humans experience: sweet, acidic, salty, bitter, and umami. By creating a closed circuit with the tongue, different combinations of flavors can be created.
From the article: “In testing, the Norimaki Synthesizer has allowed users to experience the flavor of everything from gummy candy to sushi without having to place a single item of food in their mouths.”
What if a world existed where this was used as a popular weight-loss tool. The tongue could be tricked to experience whatever flavors the user wanted while eating low-calorie food. Maybe something out of seaweed.
This story would be a dystopian future similar to the one in Brave New World. The main character knows something isn’t right in the world, but everyone he knows is content to eat their low-calorie meals that the body is tricked into thinking taste good. He tries to go out into the countryside and bring back foods rumored to taste good, mushrooms and various vegetables. The end could be when he decides to slaughter an animal. When he can’t live with the guilt, he turns himself over to the authorities.
Come to find out, the upper echelons of society still consume meat, and there’s a demand for someone with his curiosity about cooking. The end could be a showdown where he has to decide to kill them all or join them, and in the end, he joins them at the dinner table.
This could also explain a Soylent-type drink, or how humans all consume mush in The Matrix. Remember the microwave-chicken in “The Fifth Element?”
This could also play a role in space travel, keeping travelers from the psychological stress of eating the same thing every day. They simply have to choose from the list before they eat whichever meal they desire. There could be stand-in substances for various textures, so it wouldn’t be too jarring.
