Hi-Tech Fork Tricks Diners' Tastebuds with Smells

Even the world's most hapless chefs now have a simple way to enhance their blandest creations, after a Canadian firm released a fork that simulates flavour.

The metal Aromafork comes in 21 different varieties, including chocolate, vanilla, lychee, passionfruit, strawberry, basil, coriander, mint and almond.

Also on the menu are coconut, peanut, cinnamon, ginger, jalapeno, wasabi, butter, olive oil, smoke or truffle.

The device has a vial under the handle that releases scented liquid through blotting paper under the nose of diners, tricking their taste buds.

Jonathan Coutu, president of MOLECULE-R Flavors, which aims to bring molecular gastronomy into ordinary homes, said: "The initial idea was to reinvent the traditional fork into an improved utensil that would trick people's mind by liberating an intense flow of aromas."

He claimed it could become "the perfect educational tool to learn how to better appreciate food".

The whole set of four forks, a full set of flavours and diffusing papers will cost £36.

Smell plays a key role in our capacity to identify flavours.

Taste buds on the tongue are capable of identifying flavours which fall into five main groups: sweet, sour, salty, bitter and unami.

However, to identify the taste of different foods within those groups, for instance sugar and honey, the sense of smell is necessary.