Maybe this is what Flavortown is all about.

Why, I wondered, does flavor have such a hold over us? And why do so many scientists carry on as though nutrition starts from the neck down, that what truly matters in food is carbs, protein and fat, and flavor is just some meaningless and frivolous indulgence?

Our flavor sensing equipment—the nose and mouth—takes up more DNA than any other bodily system. Why is there so much DNA devoted to a sense we tend to think of as superfluous?