Question: What causes salt to make food taste better?

Sam Geen answered on 21 Jun 2013:

There are five types of taste – salty, sour, sweet, bitter and “umami”, which isn’t found so much in European and North American food but which is common in Asia, although “monosodium glutamate” is used as a flavour in some foods. These are picked up by the taste buds on the tongue. Salt therefore activates your taste buds, which in the right combination tastes good. Taste is a complex thing, which also depends on temperature, smell, acidity, how it feels to eat it (is it mushy or crunchy?), and so on. However, some chefs, like Heston Blumenthal, try to use chemistry in their cooking to develop new ways to make food.