Do you ever wonder why some people hate the food that you love and vice versa? The number of times during your life where you'll be asked 'how can you not possibly like it?!' is unreal. All animals like specific foods, for example, we give dogs bones or dog food, then there's cat food and birds like worms and seeds. So why do we not always like the food we're given? We're about to find out. 

(Image credit: GoodFon.com) 

Genetics

People experience bitter flavours differently because the combination of bitter receptor genes varies in each person. Almost everyone lacks the ability to detect at least one scent which means that the chemical that gives chocolate the distinctive smell may strike as either offensive or earthy. Or you may be one of the 25% that cannot smell it at all. 

Personal Experience 

Babies are pre-exposed to liking certain foods due to what their Mother ate during pregnancy and later on when breastfeeding. This is why it's important for a mother to expose their children to a wide range of foods and it can take place before they've even entered the world. Go ahead and treat your tot to some Gookie Dough! I'm sure they'll thank you later on. 

(Image credit: leafly.com) 

Culture

Of course, this one is obvious. Not many people enjoy bitter or spicy foods when they first try them but they can create a tolerance and even crave them due to the exposure to these foods. 

The Science 

People who have a lot of papillae (bumps on the tongue and tastebuds) often find flavours overwhelming compared to those who have less. Those who have less will to go for spicy, sour and bitter foods. It's not always about papillae, it also has to do with our taste buds ability to detect different molecules. Our brains can recognise five tastes which are bitter, sweet, salty, sour and savoury. The different sensitivity to bitterness can be down to evolutionary pressures in different parts of the world. For example, most toxic plants taste bitter. Think about it this way, most people don't like beer the first time they try it due to its strength. 

Blown your mind yet? Leave your thoughts in the comments and let us know if you have any facts! *Credit: Popular Science*  

Here at Gookie Dough, we're pros at how to make your mouth water and have a fountain of knowledge all about your beloved cookie. We thought we'd share our weird and wonderful facts with you, so that you can brag to your friends that you are an expert when it comes to the delightful treats. Here are all the useless facts about the cookie!

No.1

Chocolate chips cookies were invented in 1937 when Ruth Graves (American chef) decided to add cut up chunks of semi-sweet Nestle chocolate into her cookie recipe. From then on, it was history. We thank you, Ruth!

No.2

So we know that initially, chocolate chips were made from semi-sweet chocolate but the horizon has broadened. Flavours now range from dark chocolate, peanut butter chips, mint chocolate chips, butterscotch chips and white chocolate chips. And now, thanks to the ultimate food trends, we are even starting to see funfetti!

No.3

August 4th is National Chocolate Chip Cookie Day here in the UK. Anything as an excuse for eating ridiculous amounts of dough! Make sure you sweeten your Instagram feed up on this special day with hashtag #ChocolateChipCookieDay.

No.4

The worlds biggest chocolate chip weighed 40,000 pounds and had a diameter of 101 feet! It was created in 2003 in North Carolina by The Immaculate Baking Company. Damn, UK, we need to up our game in cookie making.

No.5

The first name for chocolate chip cookies was actually 'Chocolate Crunch Cookies', and it instantly became an American favourite. Ruth went on to publish a book called 'Toll House Tried And True Recipes', to this day, it's still a best seller.

No.6

If you pop your cookie dough mix in the fridge for 24 hours, it gives it more flavour. Personally, we would grab a spoon and decide to eat the dough instead. Especially if it is red velvet flavour!

No.7

Queue the language lesson! “Cookie” comes from the Dutch word koekje which means “small cake.” They’re called biscuits in England (of course, unless we're on about Gookie Dough!), galletas in Spain, and keks in Germany.

No.8

Want to make the best melt-in-the-middle chewy, gooey cookie ever? The chips melt best a temperatures between 104 and 113°F. The melting will begin at 90°F, but the cooking temperature should never be higher than 115°F for milk and white chocolate cookies. Dark chocolate chips are a tougher cookie and shouldn't exceed 120F°. We don't want to waste precious chocolate after all!

No.9

Chocolate chip cookies are now a worldwide favourite and are most popular in America, Europe and Australia! What's even weirder is that other countries have different eating habits that surround our cookie. The Middle East top their cookie with chocolate sauce and then eat them with a knife and fork (very fancy!).

No.10

The chocolate chip cookie is one of the four foods which are acceptable according to fussy eaters. (The other three being chicken, chips, and macaroni cheese. Very nutritional!)

No.11

Your average rounded tablespoon can hold an average of 50 chocolate chips (I wonder who calculated that). To be fair, I'm delighted when I have the maximum of 6.

No.12

Baking a batch of fresh cookies is one of estate agent's finest techniques for making a house feel like a home. Pretty smart!

What cookie facts do you know about? Throw a few more chocolate chips into the mix and let us know. Of course, you can never beat our Gooey Chocolate Chip Tub of dough!