Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge continues exploring the senses; this week it is tasting.

We have 5 basic type of tastes registered by our taste buds: bitter, salty, sour, sweet and savory. Sometimes fat is considered a 6th taste.

The American diet contains a lot of processed foods, which add salt to them – salt is a preservative. So we eat too much salt, as well as fat and sweets. High-salt diets can cause fluid to build up in your body, especially if you have a heart condition like I do. A tell-tale sign is swollen ankles but also lots of coughing, the result of fluid build-up in the lungs. That is why I try to maintain a low-salt diet.

If we would stick to “real” food, that is, food provided to us by nature, we would be a lot healthier.

Garden tomatoes: Fresh tomatoes always taste the best! (citrusy: sour, also savory)
Baclava – Vienna’s Naschmarkt  (sweet – taste of honey)

Vegetables and fruit for sale at Vienna’s Naschmarkt (mostly savory, some bitter)

sweet & savory fruits!

Breads in Israel – most breads are put in the salty category, but some, like pita bread, are classified as savory

In Egypt, I fell in love with Middle Eastern food!!

We had a home-hosted dinner at the home of an Egyptian family in Luxor.

We also had a five-day cruise on the Nile on our own private boat with excellent chefs! Rice and peppers – definitely savory!

A whole fish! – Nile perch (savory,  salty also)


A New Year’s cake (oh so sweet!)

Spices for sale at an Egyptian market – spices add flavor or heat to a dish, and some can be bitter.

I don’t normally take pictures of food (except when traveling), but sometimes I can’t resist, like this savory shrimp appetizer at a restaurant!

Holiday cookies from my church’s annual “cookie walk!” (Totally bad-for-you sweet, but the holidays are a time for celebrating!! Eat these in moderation!)

I will end where I started – with fresh grown vegetables, from a local farmers’ market.