If you think that your mom's cooking is the best in the world, then you're not the only one.

Studies suggest that the food prepared with love and effort is perceived to taste better. This is because our emotional perception of the taste of food is influenced by the amount of time and effort spent in the preparation of meals.

In a research by Birds Eye, a Middlesex-based frozen food firm, they have found that 58 percent of people have an increased enjoyment for food cooked with love and time. They have conducted an experiment where two groups of participants were fed with the same Christmas dinner, only that they ate in different settings.

The first group ate in a well decorated room where they were made aware that the meals were carefully prepared by a team of chefs, while the second ate in a room that was barely decorated. And then, both groups were asked to rate the taste of their meals and the results have shown that the first group were more satisfied with the taste of their meals compared to the other group.

Dr. Christy Ferguson, a Birds Eye psychologist who led the study concluded that our awareness of the time and effort spent into preparing for the food we eat influences how we taste and enjoy the food.

 "We set out to prove that food made with love tastes better and demonstrate how the power of intention impacts people's perception of food enjoyment." She said.

"The results confirm that our emotional perception of taste can be enhanced or diminished by the amount of time, love and care that goes into meals, which ultimately can increase our enjoyment of food." She added.