How I learn what you actually like

The idea: a map of taste

Think of your taste as a spot on a map. Each question or pick nudges the spot a little. Across nine areas I follow sixty traits, such as how much heat you want, how much you like crunch, how far from the familiar you like to travel, and how much time you will put into cooking.

Every recipe has its own spot on the same map, set by what is in it and how it is made. The closer a recipe sits to yours, the higher it ranks for you.

• Basic tastesHow much of each basic taste you want on the plate.
• TextureThe mouthfeel you seek out and the ones you avoid.
• AromaThe families of smell that pull you toward a dish.
• IngredientsThe foods you are glad to see at the center of the plate.
• AdventureHow far from the familiar you like to travel.
• CompositionHow you like a dish built: layered or pure, bold or delicate.
• CraftHow you like to cook: time, technique, precision, planning.
• Your tableWho you cook for and the occasions you cook around.
• ValuesWhat you want your food to do for you and the world.

Game one: the playlist game

Pick the dishes you would happily eat.

1. 1

   You are shown a tray of ten dishes. Tap the ones you would happily eat tonight.

2. 2

   Only dishes that are safe for you ever appear. Two of the ten are surprises, dishes a little outside your usual taste, placed in the tray so your taste can grow instead of going in circles.

3. 3

   Each dish you pick pulls your spot on the map toward it. A dish you pass on pushes it away, more gently, because skipping a dish usually means not tonight rather than never.

4. 4

   The next tray is built from where your spot has moved, so it gets sharper as you go. After at least twelve picks, what the game learned is saved to your taste profile.

5. 5

   When you finish, I reveal your Palate Type, a plain-language portrait of how you eat.

Game two: the swipe game

Swipe right for yes, left for no.

1. 1

   A card shows one idea at a time: a flavor, a texture, a way of cooking. Swipe right if it sounds like you, left if it does not. On a computer, use the arrow keys or the buttons under the card.

2. 2

   The questions come in eight themes: heat and spice, basic tastes, texture, aroma, the center of the plate, adventure and place, craft and composition, and your table. They are dealt in short rounds so it never drags.

3. 3

   I order the themes using your playlist results, so the swipe game picks up from what the first game showed me.

4. 4

   Every answer is saved the moment you make it. If you close the page, you pick up at the next card.

5. 5

   Each answer is tied to real tags on real recipes, so a swipe changes what I recommend, not just a number in a quiz.

How it becomes your recipes

The games and the 250-question Palate Profile (with a 62-question short form to start) all feed the same map. I blend how close each recipe sits to your spot with the specific tastes you have shown me, and I rank the recipes that pass your safety list. A recipe never gets shown because it scored well if it fails your allergy or diet rules.

You will see the result in your picks on the recipe catalog, in the matches on your results page, and in the dinner plans as they open.

Everyone at your table

Each person at your table can have a profile of their own, answered from the same device. When you plan dinner, anyone's allergy rules a dish out for the whole table, and everyone's tastes are blended, with a dish that someone strongly dislikes ranked lower.

Yours to read, change and take back

Play the playlist game again or update your answers to the Palate Profile questions whenever you like, and everything built from them changes with you.

I keep your individual game moves for twelve months, then fold them into anonymous totals that no longer point to you. Profiles you add for family members belong to your account and are deleted with it.