Why does the temperature of food affect how it tastes?

Question

There are foods and drinks that we typically serve hot, cold, or room temperature. They taste better in those forms… but why?

In: Other

Answer 1

The taste of food isn’t just about what your tongue senses. It also relies on your sense of smell. Depending on the temperature of your food, different volatile chemicals will come off of it and enter your nose, adding dimension to the flavour. Food that tastes better hot has volatiles that escape it at higher temperatures than food that tastes better cold.