Snap, crackle, pop
"The single word 'crispy' sells more food than a barrage of adjectives. ... There is something innately appealing about crispy food."
Mario Batali
No I've not been eating Rice Krispies - remember them? I was actually eating my favourite sardines on toast for lunch, the toast being from a baguette. It was gloriously crunchy and contrasted beautifully with the silky oiliness of the fish. And I got to wondering why we like crunchy food so much. I was looking forward to each bite, not only for the taste of the fish but also for the crunch of the toast in my mouth.
So I looked it up and, of course, everyone has already said it all. But I'll try and add a few bits and pieces. If you want a fairly detailed analysis you could try reading this article by John S. Allen in The Chronicles of Higher Education. They've done brain scans and everything. It is interesting is it not that people can get money to research into this, but then I suppose if crunchiness and the word 'crispy' sells food then it's not hard to see where the money comes from.
One theory is actually summed up in that old Rice Krispies ad. We like the sound in our heads as we crunch our way through food that snaps, crackles, and pops. The very words themselves are onomatopoeic Other associated words that spring to mind are crunchy, brittle, crispy, and crumbly and let's face it they are all words that are used a lot in packaging and on restaurant menus, not to mention the names of the products themselves. According to research, you don't actually have to experience those things, you simply have to hear the words and you immediately think of the sensation.
"Simply reading, hearing, or saying the onomatopoeic terms "crispy" and "crunchy" is likely to evoke the sense of eating that type of food." John S. Allen
You don't usually think of sound as being one of the senses involved in eating. But it really is. Not just the sound in your head of you chewing and crunching your way through your meal, but the hiss and splatter of fat as food is fried, the bubbling of liquid - "an enthusiastic simmer" as Nigel Slater put it, the chopping of food on a wooden board. It combines with the smell, the taste, the touch of the food on your tongue and the look on your plate to provide a satisfying eating experience. All five senses, plus the indefinable umami, are involved in eating - like sex I suppose.
Think crunchy and crispy and you will most likely immediately think of a whole lot of 'unhealthy' foods. To those shown below I would add chips, biscuits, anything fried, anything with a breadcrumb or other crunchy topping, popcorn, chocolate, cereals and toast. I'm sure you can think of more.
Not to mention the brilliance of the Magnum ads that add sex and champagne to the mix of snap, crackle and pop.
But the badness of it all apparently adds to the pleasure. Well it would wouldn't it? I mean Magnums are just a choc ice on a stick really but their advertising is so brilliant that we are fooled into thinking they are better than anybody else's brand. The play on texture is a huge part of it.
"Eating a bag of potato chips may be enjoyable not just because it delivers salt, fat, and carbohydrate in a nice, crispy package, but also because of the frisson of illicit pleasure it confers in a hectoring, contradictory nutritional culture." John S. Allen, The Chronicles of Higher Education
But let's not forget the other scientific theory about why we like crunch. Millions of years ago before we discovered cooking with fire, early apes ate insects (crunch) and green vegetable with crisp stalks. Not that anyone much is keen on insects these days - though some Asian cuisines fry them as a tasty snack. Snack - there's another crunchy word. And the current fashion for small bites of food (often fried and crisp) is another way of harking back to small things. Crunchy vegetables though - that's alright.
For not all crunchy food is bad for you. Think raw fruit and vegetables - apples, pears, carrots, cucumber, radishes. The fad for al dente this and al dente that. I'm told that the young even prefer their peaches crunchy.
To go back to my original crunch - the toasted baguette. In French boulangeries the lady behind the counter will often test each individual loaf to find the crunchiest for you. For even fresh, the best baguette is the crunchiest.
