What makes food taste good?

 I remember being very particular about what I ate, I really disliked boring and mundane food. I used to complain to my mother about the food that was made. Some of the everyday items she made were flavorless, while others may argue that my mother made good food. Yes in most food she made really flavorful items, but others were not worthy. In fact I remember when my nanima (maternal grandmother) came to stay with us for a few days, usually I disliked my mother's yellow dal, but when my nanima made it, it was amazing. I think my mother was very offended and jealous that I liked nanima's cooking better. So what made it taste better? My nani added smoke (by added a coal on top), and a little bit spicer. One of my favorite food is Carne Asada (grilled beef/steak) taco, it has all the elements I love salt, fat, heat and acid that's what makes an exceptional taco. When Netflix came out with the show Salt Fat Heat Acid, I felt as though I found my guru in cooking. I really enjoyed Samin's sense of humor and her authenticity, check out her cookbook https://amzn.to/2Y8gnPR Think about your favorite food, does it have all these elements? If not what if you added it? Take something as simple as plain yogurt, I added sambal olek (a red chili paste) to it and it made it taste amazing, the chili added heat and acid to it. Try it and let me know what you have done to improve any regular food