You’re on a blind date. Your prospective amore reaches for the radishes. You gasp in horror. Recent research suggests that those with a penchant for bitter foods can swing towards being manipulative and antisocial… could this uber-cool, charming exterior be a ruse?

Insights like these put a whole new spin on the hit dating show Dinner Date South Africa, which seeks to put love on the menu, when it returns to the number one international lifestyle channel on DStv, BBC Lifestyle, DStv channel 174, for a second season from 26 February at 8 pm.

Dinner Date follows one dater who sets out to find true love over three home-cooked meals. Each episode features a new dater who must pick three menus from a selection of five dreamed up by daring ‘datees’. The hopefuls behind the lucky three chosen menus then cook their courses for their blind date in their own homes. After the three dates, the dater must choose one of their chefs to take out to be wined and dined at a swanky restaurant – leaving the other two hopefuls with a night in alone with a microwave meal.

Now imagine if the dater knew how food choices reflect personality… he or she would probably be even pickier in selecting their top three!

From childhood we learn to associate different tastes with emotions and assumptions such as sweet tastes are good and bitter is bad. We attribute food terminology to describe people, he’s so spicy, she’s sour and so on. If our food preferences can reveal our innermost thoughts and desires, and people really are what they eat then this raises all kinds of questions… if you love chillies and a date does too, does that mean fiery compatibility between you two?

Next time you’re watching Dinner Date, South Africa, keep this in mind so you can read a little something extra into whether the dater goes for someone extra salty, spicy or sweet!

Dinner Date, South Africa airs every Wednesday at 8 pm on BBC Lifestyle, DSTV Channel 174.