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Why Thanksgiving dinner tastes so good, according to science

By Kanika Gupta | Update Date: Nov 27, 2015 01:53 PM EST

Thanksgiving is all about gratitude but other thing that steals the show during this holiday is obviously the food. Kantha Shelke, PhD, CFS, a renowned food scientist and spokesperson for the Institute of Food Technologies (IFT) says that the food has a huge role to play when it comes to amplifying the celebration, reports Science Daily.

The first thing that comes to mind on the Thanksgiving day is the turkey and pumpkin pie, amongst obviously the friends and the family that you will share it with. Even though this is the standard menu for the day, there is a reason why it all tastes so good and has very little to do with the grandma's old recipe. According to IFT, smell of your food guides 80% of your food experience. The ingredients that are used in the thanksgiving dinner, when mixed, together produce scintillating aroma because they share the same flavor components. Kantha Shelke says, "When components of ingredients match, they tend to go together very well." She added, "Turkey, root vegetables, onions, potatoes and the squash family - they all share many flavor compounds. So when you roast turkey and you prepare apples, cranberries, pecans, honey, molasses together, these flavor compounds complement each other and delight our senses," as reported by LA Times.

The institute says that turkey shares the same compounds of flavor as Chocolate, pecans, apples, ham, roasted vegetables, parsley, tomatoes and pumpkin. It is needless to say that no meal other than the one on thanksgiving uses the flavors together. This is the only reason why the food combination of turkey, cranberry sauce and the stuffing together tastes so good with every bite, says LA Times.

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