Neil: I'm Neil.
Beth: And I'm Beth. There are some well-known English expressions that make a link between seeing and eating.
'Your eyes are bigger than your belly' means you have taken more food than you can eat;
and the saying you eat with your eyes first means that food seems more desirable
when it looks good on the plate.
Neil: But seeing isn't the only sense involved in tasting food - in fact,
it may not even be the most important.
First, you see your favourite bacon sandwich,
then comes its delicious smell,
quickly followed by the crunchy feel and salty taste as you take a bite.
Beth: Now scientists are learning more about the power of another of our senses – sound –
and how affects our sense of taste.
'Sonic seasoning' is the idea that
when you hear certain sounds or music they can enhance one flavour or another in the food you're eating.
In this programme we'll be eating with our ears as we investigate the link between sound and our tastebuds.
And, as usual, we'll be learning some useful new vocabulary as well.
Neil: But first I have a question for you, Beth.
The idea that sounds influence taste might seem strange,
but the food-processing companies that produce some of our most familiar food and drinks
have long known that sounds equal sales.