Due to the health measures currently in force, the end-of-year celebrations are looking less cheerful than usual. If, on top of that, you’ve lost your taste and smell due to the coronavirus, Christmas and New Year’s dinners could really look bland.

Fortunately, chef Marcelo Ballardin has the solution. This restaurant owner from Ghent has concocted a holiday menu specially addressed to people suffering from loss of taste, so that they can still fully enjoy the pleasures of taste during these end-of-year celebrations.

The development of this holiday menu is not trivial. It is based on proven scientific knowledge. Indeed, the taste can be experienced in three ways: mainly thanks to the smell (80%), but also thanks to the tongue and the sensation in the mouth. If the sense of smell disappears, it is then necessary to bet on the sensations of the tongue and the mouth, in order to still be able to enjoy a meal.

In collaboration with the association of odor disorders, Marcelo Ballardin has therefore developed a menu focusing on certain pronounced flavors, such as chili or sour flavors.

The menu consists of ravioli stuffed with lobster and eel, accompanied by a compote of tomatoes and peppers and a fine butter sauce.