耳の穴で味わう｜Taste in the Earholes

天ざるそばを食べた。こだわりがありそうなお店でランチの開店前から並んでいたので、ひきつけられるように列についた。雨の降る寒い日だったのだが、迷わず天ざるそばを頼む。上品そうなざるそばが出てきたが、蕎麦の風味が全くしない。残念だなぁ、天ぷらで気を取り直すかなと思いながらふとイヤホンをしていることに気がついた。音楽を聴いていたわけではなく、たまたまつけたままだった。もしかしてとイヤホンを外して再び蕎麦を食べてみる。ああー、蕎麦の風味が口一杯に広がり、まるで栗の実を食べているかのよう。さっきまでとはまるで違う。鼻が詰まると味がわからないことはあるけれど、耳の穴まで味覚に関係あるとは！もしかしたら鼻から耳に抜けることによって味を感じるのかもしれない。味は舌なんて思っていたけど、全神経を集中させてみよう。（絵と文：サカキテツ朗）

2023/05/24

I had tenzaru soba. The restaurant seemed to be particular about its food, and there was a line for lunch before it opened, so I joined the line as if I was drawn to the restaurant. It was a cold and rainy day, but I ordered tenzaru soba without hesitation. The soba came out looking elegant, but it had no soba flavor at all. While I was thinking about having tempura to make up for the disappointment,I suddenly realized that I was wearing earphones. I was not listening to music, but happened to leave them on. I thought it might be possible, so I took off the earphones and tried eating soba again. Ahhh, the flavor of soba filled my mouth, as if I was eating chestnuts. I had never thought that the ear canals were also related to the sense of taste, although it is sometimes difficult to taste when the nose is blocked! Maybe it is the passage from the nose to the ears that makes us taste. I used to think that taste was all about the tongue, but let's focus all our attention on it. -Text and illustration by Ted Sakaki

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#鼻の穴

#味覚

#蕎麦