In Rozin&Rozin's article, "Culinary Themes and Variations", they discuss how certain seasonings have an attachment to cultures all over the world.These flavors get passed down within the different cultural generations. It molds their tastes and creates what their palates might find delightful or repulsive. Without their distinct flavors of a dish, it would have feelings of being incomplete. In fact, without the distinct flavor, some people would try to find a familiarity with what ingredients they may have. I know that within the Filipino culture, we have a salty fish sauce called patis. They will put it on anything and everything, especially their rice or main/side dishes. In the Japanese culture, the most common distinct flavors would be soy sauce or fish stock. They season everything (and I mean almost everything) with soy sauce. There is even a commonly made dessert that has a soy sauce flavoring to it! Those molded within the Japanese culture can find their sweet taste buds affected by this. Desserts we enjoy over here would be too sweet for them. (If you tasted a cake from here in comparison to a Japanese bakery, the sweetness would be a big difference.)