Why does soup taste better in a mug?

A serious question, this.

I frequently bring some soup to work for my lunch: today it's pumpkin, coconut and chilli made from the last of my pumpkins by my better half. Sometimes it's red lentil (the recipe for which is in my new book, plug, plug ...), or French onion.

Recently I've found the delights of this homemade fare had dimmed - not so much a case of familiarity breeding contempt, as a feeling of dejection at the sight of the slightly beaten-up plastic box I carry and serve it in.

So a couple of days ago I started pouring my soup into a china mug instead. And guess what? It tasted better than when slurped from a plastic spoon dipped into a plastic box. I am sure a scientist has delved into quite why this is the case, but I'm wondering what else it applies to. Would my egg sandwich taste better served on porcelain than eaten from a (frequently washed and reused) plastic bag? And why does certain food taste better when eaten outside?

Comments

[Mel Rimmer]

Fish and chips taste best when served from a newspaper. Sadly, fish and chips shops don't do this anymore. They also taste best eaten at a bus stop, waiting for the last bus home, in the rain. I defy any British person to disagree.

[Natalia]

I agree that soup tastes better from a mug... and dinner tastes better at the table than it does sitting in front of the TV. And any kind of lunch tastes better at home than it does when I'm eating at my desk at work.

I don't think context changes the food, but I am sure that context changes the way I pay attention to the food, and I think that's where the flavor thing comes from.

[Clare]

I read the title and nearly had heart failure - soup always tastes best from a bowl - something round and colourful with thick walls to keep your soup roasty toasty.

Then I read on and given that you're saying a mug is better than a plastic box and spoon, I decided that perhpas you're not a bit crazy after all. ;-)

[louise]

I too gasped at the title of this post - the repulsive "cupasoup" powder came to mind. Have you been sent some free samples?
Tea definitely tastes better from a porcelain cup AND saucer.

[Jane Perrone]

The headline was, I admit, deliberately provocative.

Soup does, of course, taste best of all in a fine china bowl, preferably dating between 1950 and 1960 and hailing from the Midwinter factory. Elstree pattern, for ultimate preference.

But at work - where it's the plastic box or a mug - the choice is simple.

Gazpacho, of course, is rather nice served in a chilled glass.