We’re all too familiar with Skittle’s branded motto ‘Taste the Rainbow’ that manages to convinces you that everything you touch turns into Skittles. A marketing stunt that has propelled The Wrigley Company, a sub-brand off Mars into unprecedented fame. But what happens when you can really ‘taste’ the rainbow?
It’s official, that the world has gone rainbow mad – and by that we don’t mean an obsessive number of insta-worthy images of rainbows! 2016’s latest food craze is ‘rainbow food’ and the proof can be found in a bagel or slice of cake! The multi-coloured food trend has taken social media by storm and has come a long way since we got used to a red velvet cake. Whilst our eyes and social media feeds are dazed by how something so beautiful would still taste delicious, there is a science behind it.
Rainbow bagels, cheese toasties and coffee are the latest and most popular food groups to become part of the growing trends which are not just for show but devouring. A 2015 study by Bio Med Central has found that the polychromatic foods we are so enchanted by are actually tricking our brains into thinking certain flavours exist but do not. Their abstract was to explore whether basic tastes, such as sour, sweet, bitter and salty can be represented by a colour. Their study found that we associate certain colours with tastes; red and pinks represent something sweet and green and yellow are for foods that are sour. Subsequently, polychromatic bagels, cakes and waffles can be perceived as far more flavourful and enjoyable to eat.
The rainbow bagel phenomenon had earlier this year gone viral, after The Bagel Store, owned by Scot Rossillo decided to market these semi-sweet bagels that would later become subject to concerns over artificial colouring. These eye-popping foods are exactly what a scientific review in the journal Appetite found. Research had shown that coloured foods distract boredom and that bagels were not the only avenue for consumer excitement as cakes, coffee and cheese toasties joined the fad.
If you’re inquisitive to making your own rainbow bagels, the recipe is pretty easy. With flour, water, sugar, years, salt and food colouring, your bagels will need the hashtag of #foodporn.
And if rainbow food doesn’t quite appeal and you need a good-looking pick-me-up in the morning, then rainbow coffee is your calling. The magical coffee art is the creation of Mason Salisbury, also known as @ibrewcoffee on Instagram, is a barista at Las Vegas based coffee shop Sambalatte. To get involved, all you need is to add food colouring into your steamed milk before pouring it into the espresso – with an artistic hand of course!
Here are some of the other famous rainbow foods we are completely obsessed with!
Rainbow Cheese Toastie:
A cafe in Hong Kong is so far the only daring restaurant to make rainbow cheese toasties! Melted cheese in different colours, doesn't exactly tickle our taste buds, but they are pretty colourful to say the least. The toasties are the work of Kala Toast and has become extremely famous thanks to its hkfoodiexblogger account. The toasties even have an adopted name of 'unicorn toasties'.
Rainbow Layer Cake:
When you're spending more than a couple of hours on a cake, it needs to be a showstopper! Bakeries all around the world and the likes of Betty Crocker, BBC Good Food and Dr Oetker have jumped onto the band wagon of creating rainbow layered cakes – and boy they are fantastic!
Rainbow Doughnuts:
Krispy Creme just announced its nutella doughnuts to be dispensed from a cash machine in central London. Yet, we seem to more excited by rainbow doughnuts that will surely hit the streets of London any time soon!
Feature image credit: MShev/Shutterstock
