Even though the tongue is covered in taste buds, about 75% of what we taste is actually comes from our sense of smell. Our mouths can detect four distinguish four tastes: bitter, sour, salty and sweet.

Even though I usually tend to crave sweets (as is evident by chocolate chip biscotti, chocolate chip oatmeal cookies, mint chocolate crinkle cookies and spicy gingerbread cake).

Occasionally. I’ll crave salty food but generally, I find that these four flavors are best when combined. A salty, creamy cheese spread upon a sweet, crumbly wheat cracker or a sliver of cured meat in a neat little pile on top of nutty bread, creamy brie and a radiant dollop of citrus chutney enlighten all of the taste buds at once.

So when I was party-recipe shopping a few weeks ago I found a recipe for pears wrapped in prosciutto and blue cheese. With bitter arugula, sharp blue cheese, sweet pears and salty prosciutto – tossed in lemon juice for a hint of citrus, you won’t want to stop at one – or 2 – of these bite-sized snacks.

Photo stolen from Dave Capretto

Pears With Blue Cheese and Prosciutto

Inspired by Real Simple

Serves 8

Ingredients:

2 pears (such as Bosc or Bartlett), each cut into 8 wedges
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
1 cup arugula
3 ounces blue cheese, cut into small pieces
6 ounces thinly sliced prosciutto, cut in half lengthwise

Directions

In a large bowl, toss the pears and lemon juice. Layer a slice of pear, an arugula leaf, and a piece of cheese on a piece of prosciutto and roll up. Serve immediately.