Enjoying your meal is about more than just taste, which, after all, comes after the initial sensation of actually seeing it.

A popular saying claims that we eat with our eyes too, so Bored Panda decided to test the validity of this phrase and put together a collection of oddly satisfying food pictures.

From a pristine McDonald’s hamburger bun to a symmetrical striped cake, continue scrolling to participate in our “study” and see if the images are enough to make your stomach growl. Bon appétit.

#1 A Koi Pond Mousse Cake For Father’s Day. Everything On The Cake Is Edible

Image credits: petrichoro

#2 Due To Depression At The Time I Never Posted One Of My Most Beautiful Loaves I’ve Ever Baked: Pumpkin

Image credits: JimmyMus

If the photos, for some reason, aren’t enough and you still need more proof that the way a chef plates and presents their food has a big impact on the guest’s experience, consider this experiment from Oxford psychologist, Professor Charles Spence.

Inspired by Wassily Kandinsky’s ‘Painting Number 201’, the Franco-Columbian chef and fellow co-author of the study Charles Michel designed a salad resembling the abstract artwork.

#3 This Peacock Cake And Cupcakes

Image credits: Malizzi Cakes

#4 I Made An Apple Tart For Christmas And Wanted People To See It

Image credits: emkay95

#5 My First Striped Cake. Pineapple Cake With Elderflower Buttercream

Image credits: BakedExp

“A number of chefs now are realising that they are being judged by how their foods photograph – be it in the fancy cookbooks [or], more often than not, when diners Instagram their friends,” Professor Spence explained.

Thirty men and thirty women were each presented with one of three salads containing identical ingredients, arranged either to resemble the Kandinsky painting, a regular tossed salad, or a “neat” formation where each component was spaced away from the others.

#6 Perfectly Executed Cranberry Tart

Image credits: beekay90

#7 Homemade Ravioli With Pressed Flowers And Dill

Image credits: itssjulss

#8 I’m In Pastry School And We Made Croissants Last Week

Image credits: uniqueartist97

#9 Sushi That’s Almost Too Perfect To Eat

Image credits: JD_1925

Seated alone at a table mimicking a restaurant setting, and unaware that other versions of the salad were on offer, each participant was given two questionnaires asking them to rate various aspects of the meal on a scale of 1 to 10, both before and after digging in.

#10 Christmas Cake I Made For A Holiday Baking Competition At My Office

Image credits: DolphinGirlLJ

#11 My Cake I Just Popped Out Of The Cake Tin Did Not Break At All. Feels Good

Image credits: RealMeggarra

#12 Got My First Tart Pan Recently. White Chocolate And Cranberry Tart

Image credits: f4cev4lue

#13 My Friend Let Her Chickens Loose On A Watermelon. They Picked It Clean

Image credits: 6295

Before the participants of the study sampled their plateful, the Kandinsky-inspired dish was rated higher for complexity, artistic presentation and general liking. Participants were prepared to pay twice as much for the meal as for either the regular or “neat arrangements.”

After finishing off their portion, participants also rated the Kandinsky-esque salad higher for “tastiness,” despite it receiving similar ratings to the other salads for the four basic components of taste: salty, bitter, sweet, and sour.

#14 First Attempt At Making Cedric Grolet’s Apple Tart. It’s Not Perfect, But I’m Really Proud

Image credits: luax14

#15 Homemade Charcuterie Board

Image credits: United-Management958

#16 I Call Them “Snookies” (Snail Cookies)

Image credits: stirphanie

#17 I Made A Strawberry Vanilla Crepe Cake For My Mom

Image credits: TheCroatianCookie

Of course, teasing apart exactly which aspect of the salads’ presentation affected how much participants were willing to pay for a dish, and their perception of its “tastiness,” is a tricky endeavor.

But the authors of the study suggest that the perceived effort involved in preparing the plate and its aesthetic appeal could be among the factors influencing participants.

#18 I Made These Little Cheeseburger Macarons Filled With Homemade Chocolate Ganache

Image credits: DomesticatedAnarchy

#19 Satisfying Japanese Soft Serve

Image credits: PrincessZaiross

#20 Homemade Sugar Cookies With Royal Icing

Image credits: binkkzz

#21 Sourdough Baguette

Image credits: chikara27

To put it simply, expectations were raised [with the Kandinsky-eque salad] and that led to the willingness to spend more and to an increased experience during consumption. The presentation of a dish can excite us and make us more present during the course.

If you want to continue with testing this theory, fire up our older publication 169 Oddly Satisfying Food Photos That We Can’t Stop Looking At.

#22 Natural Honeycomb

Image credits: Proteon

#23 Perfectly Assembled Sprinkles

Image credits: pokeaim

#24 My Wife’s First Attempt At A Charcuterie Board. How’d She Do?

Image credits: dylanspencer11

#25 Homemade Peppermint Macarons

Image credits: AURA_MephiIes

#26 Homemade Snoopy Chicken Curry

Image credits: oceansunfish17

#27 Cranberry Curd Tart In A Gingerbread Crust

Image credits: Suitable-Concert

#28 Put Cream In The Mug First, And My Coffee Maker Created This Visible Color Gradient

Image credits: now_in3D

#29 Homemade Chocolate Butter Croissant

Image credits: input36

#30 First Chocolate Tart

Image credits: Extrafluffymeowloaf

#31 The Most Perfect Loaf Of Bread I’ve Ever Made

Image credits: _grumpycat1

#32 Homemade Sourdough Blueberry Croissant

Image credits: That0neBelgian

#33 My Latte Art Bear

Image credits: Signal_Missing

#34 Dessert For A Family Gathering Last Weekend

Image credits: Pale-Assistant-9561

#35 This Flawless Yellow Onion

Image credits: Videowulff

#36 Here’s A Cornucopia I Made Out Of Bread For Thanksgiving

Image credits: 123comicbro

#37 My Sourdough Bread

Image credits: naxotech

#38 My Mom Was So Sad When My Grandmother Passed Away Cause She Would Miss Her Cheesecake, So For The Last 7 Years, I Have Been Making Her One Every Year For Christmas

Image credits: skydivesre

#39 The Way My Sister Decorated This Tiramisu

Image credits: Communist_Ravioli

#40 Cream Cheese Bread Turned Out So Good

Image credits: YohoPlanet

#41 This Freshly Baked Croissant

Image credits: Kummunista

#42 This Perfect Pudding

Image credits: Babythoven

#43 This Perfectly Ripe, Tiny Seed Avocado

Image credits: reddit.com

#44 Homemade Ratatouille, Hand-Cut

Image credits: bardezart

#45 Focaccia Bread Out Of The Oven, Per Request

Image credits: havkson

#46 Amazing Curry Platter

Image credits: marumasala

#47 Just Made A Batch Of Caramels And After Cutting Them I Had An Oddly Satisfying Moment

Image credits: MarlyMonster

#48 The Spaghetti Arranging Itself In My Pan

Image credits: NelsonMinar

#49 Homemade Orange-Vanilla Madeleines

Image credits: atashifutoidesu

#50 How This Frozen Diet Pepsi Exploded

Image credits: iBleeedorange

Source: boredpanda.com