The perception of taste is remarkably complex, not only on the tongue but in organs throughout the body.
The idea that specific tastes are confined to certain areas of the tongue is a myth that “persists in the collective consciousness despite decades of research debunking it.” Also wrong: the notion that taste is limited to the mouth.
Where else can you taste food? In your nose?
Yes, sort of. Taste and smell are almost the same sense.
Akshully… yes.
https://askabiologist.asu.edu/smell-taste
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/fft2.407
There is utility to being able to detect the presence of the things different tastes are supposed to detect (protein, sugars, acid, salt, toxins) at various points in the digestive tract as well, so your body know when to do things like empty the stomach or release certain digestive enzymes in the gut. Or make you vomit if you eat something toxic.
I always take my food as a suppository. Rectal taste buds hit different.
You’re not wrong. Super-spicy foods are tasted twice.