Imagery refers to mental pictures in your mind, or to words and descriptions that create mental pictures. Gustatory imagery, in particular, refers to imagery related to the sense of taste. In other words, gustatory imagery refers to words, descriptions or pictures in your brain that make you think of taste.
Tasting with Gustatory Imagery
Examples of gustatory imagery are any descriptions that you read that can almost make you taste what the author is discussing or that can allow you to imagine what something tastes like.
Here are some examples of gustatory imagery:
- The salty sweet flavor of salt water taffy was Carrie’s very favorite thing about going to the beach for summer vacation.
- Joe was picking apples and ate an apple right from the tree, the sweet juices filling his mouth and running down his chin.
- Sue thought she was biting into an orange slice and was shocked as her mouth exploded with the bitter taste of a lemon.
- After being pushed in the pool, Joe’s mouth filled with the burning taste of chlorinated water.
- The exquisite perfect salty flavor of the caviar made Penny remember why she loved coming to the restaurant.
- The familiar comforting warmth of the chicken noodle soup instantly made Mike feel much better.
- The crunch of the peanuts filled Bill’s mouth with the salty taste with which he was so familiar.
- The sweet flavor of the baby’s first lollipop immediately made her smile.
- The rich, creamy sweetness from the homemade ice cream was an amazing treat on the hot summer day.
- The strawberries tasted like the sweetness of springtime as Kim had her first berry cobbler of the season.
- The crab soup had a rich seafood flavor that reminded Becky of her summers as a child spent in Maine.
- The tequila burned like liquid fire in her mouth as she swallowed the shot of alcohol.
- When she reached out her tongue and captured snow flakes on its tip, she reveled in the coolness in her mouth.
- The perfurmey sweet flavor of the homemade juice filled her mouth.
- The expensive aged wine had just the right amount of tannins and grape flavor as she uncorked the bottle and took a swig.
- The familiar, slightly spicy flavor of the seasoned meat in the meatloaf reminded Casey of the meatloaf that her mother used to make.
- The pumpkin pie had a gross, mushy mealy taste especially after the chef forgot to put the sugar into the pie.
- The sugar-free candy had an artificially sweet, cloying flavor that made Betsy feel a little sick.
- The toothpaste at the dentist office had a sharp, strong minty flavor.
- The artificial cherry taste of the cough medicine was overly flowery and sweet.
- The lobster was melt-in-your mouth soft and had the perfect taste of delicate lobster meat.
These are all examples of gustatory imagery. The idea behind examples of gustatory images is to allow the reader of the words to picture eating the food and to almost imagine what the food tasted like. A mental picture can be formed when descriptive language is used to create rich gustatory imagery.
