Most of us produce more than one version of amylase, and which enzyme varieties you produce are determined by your genes. For example, if you inherited the genetic instructions for enzymes that break down pasta faster than potatoes, pasta will taste better to you than potatoes, because your enzymes can turn pasta into sugars in your mouth much faster than they can break down potatoes. But if your genes tell your body to make another combination of enzymes, you’ll prefer the taste of potatoes to that of pasta. Old clichés aside, there is apparently some accounting for taste, or at least our taste for “mom’s cooking.” The chances are high that you’ve inherited at least some of your enzyme recipe from your parents, so what tastes good to them probably tastes good to you, too!