Taste memory
Taste memory is the part of GastroMatch that remembers concrete dishes, ratings, and places so that future decisions can reuse past experience instead of starting from zero.
Definition
Taste memory is the structured record of what the user has eaten: which dish it was, how they rated it, and where it happened. It may also capture light context such as time, trip, or occasion when that is helpful for later decisions.
This record is not just a list of photos or check-ins. It is a memory that can be queried and reused when the user faces similar choices in new places.
Why it matters
- Prevents wasted experience. Without structured taste memory, good and bad food decisions are forgotten when the trip ends.
- Enables portable confidence. When the user sits in a new restaurant, taste memory provides grounded signals instead of vague intuition alone.
- Feeds Taste DNA. Taste memory is the raw material from which Taste DNA is learned and refined.
How GastroMatch uses it
- When the user saves and rates a dish, it becomes part of taste memory, tied to a recognized dish and a place.
- Over time, patterns in this memory update the user’s Taste DNA and improve dish-level recommendations.
- Taste memory can also surface past dishes that are relevant to a current decision, helping the user recall what worked before.
What it is not
- Not a public social feed; taste memory is primarily personal and decision-focused.
- Not a scrapbook of photos with no structure. The emphasis is on reusable signals, not just visual nostalgia.
- Not a guarantee that every remembered dish will be recommended again; some memories are useful as negative signals.
Internal links
To see how taste memory fits into the larger product loop: