Why does cooking oil make things taste better when it doesn’t taste good by itself?

Question

I get why sugar makes things taste better since it tastes good by itself but why does something like cooking oil which doesn’t taste good on its own make food taste better than it otherwise would be?

In: 734

Answer 1

As others have mentioned oil allows for chemical reactions to occur in food that makes them taste better. But additionally oil with absorb the flavours of what is around it. So often oil will allow those reactions to occur, then absorb the flavour of the food. Butter will do this as well. Putting butter in different places will actually change the taste slightly as it absorbs the flavour of whatever is in the air around it.