On Sat, 18 Oct 2003 23:47:31 GMT, Blair P. Houghton > wrote:

>ii2o > wrote:
>>so anyone know why grated cheese tastes better than non grated?
>
>Oxygen mixes with the cheese, increasing the flavor
>and making the mouthfeel less fatty.

Grating also exposes more surface area for the food odor to enter the
air. Since 'taste' is really a combo of 'taste & smell', you get a
bigger hit of Parmesean when encountering a (fresh-) grated mound than
a wedge or slice.

It might also (partially) be that while we can eat slices or chunks of
cheese by themselves, grating it usually involves being used as an
accent for other foods -- to garnish a salad or top a taco -- so the
"taste" of the cheese is inhanced by being Part of Something Big.