Gustatory amnesia

What do you call it when this happens?

You are in a great restaurant eating a great meal, something with a really unique and enjoyable flavour. You are struck by how the unlikely combination of ingredients actually tastes fantastic. You revel in the discovery and you endeavour to come back again and have this particular dish again.

You finish up, climb in to the car and head for home. Some 10 minutes later you are struggling to describe the taste of what you have just eaten.

I call it gustatory amnesia. I experience this from time to time. I mentioned that my wife and I would be going out for dinner now that my business school finals are done.

So we went to a wonderful restaurant near our home. I tried a bunch of stuff I would not normally have plumped for and it was amazing.

I was struck by that feeling as I was driving away from the restaurant. That was a fabulous meal but what the heck did it taste like. I know it was hot, you know spicy hot, but that's about all I can tell you.

It could be related to the way some people forget other people's names, often just moments after being introduced.

Maybe there are some mental exercises I can do to help me remember what my food tasted like.

I could always bring a little notepad and jot down some comments. That would definitely give the restaurant owner something to think about.