People Who Taste Shapes

The Splendid Table: Conversations & Recipes For Curious Cooks & Eaters

American Public Media

Arts, Food

4.3 • 3K Ratings

🗓️ 18 October 2003

⏱️ 55 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

It may occur in 1 in 200 people, it runs in families, women have it more than men, and those with it probably have a superior memory. It's synesthesia, and research neurologist Dr. Richard Cytowic will explain this fascinating peculiarity in the brain that results in the involuntary joining of two or more senses. If you think a slice of apple pie tastes like an octagon, tune in for some explanations.

Jane and Michael Stern taste the art of the soda jerk at Edgar's Soda Fountain in Elk Point, South Dakota. The folks at Cook's Illustrated magazine taste test tortilla chips, and reporter Scott Haas has a lesson in mixology from the bartender at the Hemingway Bar in the oh-so-chic Ritz Paris. Tea merchant Bill Waddington returns to talk flushes, the key to buying premium tea while saving money. We'll get the low-down on the first national standards for organic products. And Lynne shares her recipe for Chicken in Chile, Garlic and Vinegar Sauce, a make-ahead dish that's perfect for a fall supper.

Broadcast dates for this episode:

October 12, 2002 (originally aired)
October 18, 2003 (rebroadcast)

Transcript

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0:00.0	Our common nature is a musical journey with Yo-Yo Ma and me, Ana Gonzalez, through this complicated country.
0:08.1	We go into caves, onto boats, and up mountain trails to meet people, hear their stories, their poetry, and of course, play some music, all to reconnect to nature and get closer to the things we're missing.
0:24.4	Listen to Our Common Nature from WNYC, wherever you get podcasts.
0:33.2	Hi, it's Lynn Rosetta Casper, and you're listening to The Splendid Table, a show for people who love to eat.
0:39.4	Our program is produced by Minnesota Public Radio.
0:42.6	Today we learn about an intriguing area of neurological research.
0:47.2	Synesthesia, meaning the joining of sensations, as in tastes becoming shapes and sounds and visions.
0:54.6	Our guest is synesthesia expert Dr. Richard Citoic.
0:58.7	He's author of The Man Who Tasted Shapes.
1:01.9	Then it's tasting for the Primo Tortilla Chip with Chris Kimball, editor of Cook's Illustrated
1:07.0	magazine.
1:08.2	Reporter Scott Haas is at one of the world's great bars.
1:11.7	He's with the man Forbes magazine named the world's best bartender.
1:16.5	It's a lesson in high-end mixology.
1:19.3	Tea expert Bill Wattington explains what in heaven's name a flush is.
1:23.9	No, it's not poker.
1:25.5	And as always, in the second half of the show,
1:27.7	we're going to be opening the lines for your calls.
1:29.9	That number's 800-537-5252.
1:34.0	So let's get things rolling with Jane and Michael Stern.
1:36.9	They write the Road Food column in Gourmet Magazine.
1:55.6	Lynn, one of the magazines that we used to subscribe to and somehow lost the address that I regret so much, it came out of Northwest Iowa. It was a magazine entitled Fizz Biz, devoted entirely to the study of old-time soda fountains and ice cream parlors
	...

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