Sweet, sour, bitter, hot, salty

@whyaskq (7523)
Singapore
August 24, 2007 8:18am CST
are 5 tastes we encounter daily in the food we eat. This wierd thought suddenly came to my mind this morning. Which would I choose if I have to choose only one - sweet, sour, bitter, spicy and salty? At the same time, a colleague was making a supplement drink and commented that a sachet of that stuff is to be used with 500ml of water. If he had followed instructions, he will be sweetened to death. He had divided the sachet into 5 portions, each time with 500ml water as he could not take it sweet. It lead me wondering... Sweet is out for me too as I would puke. Sour? I like sour plums. I have no problems with drinking squashed lemons. Can I take sour? How about bitter? Life is bitter enough to swallow. Spicy? My tastebuds will scream. Saltish? I shudder. Friends, what about you? Of the 5 tastes, which do you prefer if you are given only a choice. The reason for a particular taste and not the others? Kindly share your preferences. Thank you :)
4 people like this
9 responses
@cher913 (25782)
• Canada
24 Aug 07
salty is my thing, but i do like a bit of sweet, my answer to that is salt water taffy which has a little bit of both :-)
3 people like this
@whyaskq (7523)
• Singapore
24 Aug 07
Salt water taffy? I have not heard of it. Kindly share what's that?
2 people like this
@Hatley (163776)
• Garden Grove, California
3 Mar 08
salt water taffy is a salty sweettasting taffy that is made by pulling it over and over by machines so itcomes out a ribbon usually has colored streaks in it. It is a hardcandy you have tobreak in pieces to eat. it is salty sweet you have probably seen pieces of it in mixed christmascandies.
@maddysmommy (16230)
• United States
24 Aug 07
Most definitely anything sweet. I can't stand hot and salty foods (unless the salt is on peanuts) and i prefer not to eat anything sour either.
3 people like this
@whyaskq (7523)
• Singapore
24 Aug 07
I guess you must have like desserts :)
2 people like this
@dpk262006 (58676)
• Delhi, India
25 Aug 07
Given the choice, I will go for salty taste among all other tastes. I like salty food and snacks and would prefer it over other tastes. May be my body require more salt that is why I crave for it. May be whether here in Delhi remains hot and sultry and we lose lot of our body salts due to sweating etc. and that needs to be replinshed. Have a nice day!
• Singapore
24 Aug 07
I think my life is full of bitterness. I have too much of it so that's probably why I don't like bitter things. My life is too dull, boring and meaningless. That's probably why I love spicy food so much. I am partial regarding sour and salty stuff. I take ironic stuffs with a pinch of salt and I sweat it out when the occasions arise. As for sweet stuff, I am ok with it being desserts but not really with it being part of the main course. It's a chicken and egg thing here. Guess life with too much bitterness cannot allow too much sweetness in. Either that or there is simply too much bitterness for sweetness to seep through. Thanks for letting me come to a more organized conclusion of my life. I have never thought about life in terms of taste and I am impressed by my own analysis.
2 people like this
• Singapore
3 Mar 08
Hi Patsie, Thanks for reading my response. You can't possibly know enough about me just from the little you have read from the little I have written at myLot. I am not saying my life is always dominated by bitterness. It is just that sometimes, it is. Right now, I am okay. I am neutral at the moment really, still pretending to be trying to be optimistic just like how an ant on the hotplate prays how someone will soon come and off the switch. Here's wishing you a sweet day, Patsie.
@whyaskq (7523)
• Singapore
26 Aug 07
I am impressed too.
2 people like this
@Hatley (163776)
• Garden Grove, California
3 Mar 08
you sound too on top of things to have a life of bitterness come on look for the bright side of things.I mean are you crippled or blind or havea terminal illness? come on you have to be grateful for something. You make me feel sad for you. I know I thought my life was really dull boring and meaningless when i forcibly quit working in the library I was free andbored and not contributing to anything My son paid all the rent and utilitiesall I paid was my own food and clothes then I got hooked on doing surveys and on my lot and I have something tolook forward to. plus a good friend Nelda who takes me out to dinner every two weeks and insists on paying for it. so I have much to be thankful for in spite of a left leg in a brace and ironically I am bionic in that I broke my shoulder two years ago and had to have a metal and steel shoulder joint replacement which ultimately has made my left arm only a bit functional I cannot lift it up to comb my hair or to get stuff off a high shelf but I have learned to get arouond all that. those are problems that are solved they do not define who I am I have diabetesbut I am not a diabetic I am me. so please let some sunshine in your life so I will not feel so sad for you. I assume you have also had some things happen in your life that have led to the feeling of bitterness anyone with the imagination you have I mean look lordwarwizard thats a neat title you just have to have some happiness.let in some sweetness okay?
1 person likes this
@squaretile (3778)
• Singapore
27 Aug 07
I think if i could only choose one it'd be salty. not too salty, but without salt i think all food would taste immensely bland. can you imagine chinese food without soy sauce? yuck. i think i can live without sweetened drinks, and definitely without bitterness of sourness. I'd miss spicy, but spice without salt is awful too. so out off all these, salt is indispensible.
1 person likes this
• Algeria
24 Aug 07
Salt for me too, a very little :)
3 people like this
@Lydia1901 (16351)
• United States
12 Feb 08
Well, I think it is a very hard decision to make. I would probably pick the sweet one. I am not sure why exactly, though. I just think it would be a taste bud to have.
@lkbooi (16070)
• Malaysia
23 Feb 08
It sounds rather cruel if I were given the chance to choose only one among the five. Besides bitter, I like the rest of the tastes. People in the tropical country could hardly live without hot spicy food even for a single day. We need salt and sugar to prepare yummy hot spicy food and some dishes even need a bit of sour stuff to make them more delicious. Anyhow I will choose the salty one as I will never get bored with salty food.
@Hatley (163776)
• Garden Grove, California
3 Mar 08
Thisis really hard.I think anyone alone would probably be overpowering. but perhaps sour wouldbe my choice assugar is too sweet and who needs bitter,and too spicy food gives my stomach the cramps so okay I am a pickle lover and love horseradish on my roast beef so I wilbe a sour picker.salty would land me in the hospital with too high blood pressure. sugar would trigger diabetic coma and whownats bitter I will haveto be sour.