It has long been assumed that flavour exists as a fixed property within food itself. (1)----, much of what we perceive as flavour is constructed by the brain from a combination of taste, smell, and texture signals. Flavour perception is a useful mechanism (2)---- the brain identify nutritious food and avoid harmful substances. And humans can distinguish only a limited number of basic tastes, ranging (3)---- the mild sweetness of sugar and the intense bitterness of certain alkaloids. Every flavour we (4)----, every nuance of the meals we enjoy, is shaped by this narrow set of taste receptors combined with smell. (5)---- this, it becomes clear that flavour cannot be considered an objective property of food alone. It is both less than that and more than that.