Today I had a little discussion with my Portuguese mother. I made pastel de nata yesterday, and she wrote me today “os pastéis sabem melhor no dia seguinte.” I learnt that the verb sabem means “they know” I asked her if she means “os pastéis saboreiam melhor…”
But she told me that she means sabem.
What is correct use in case of food? Is it possible to use all conjugations of saber for food? For example " a comida sabe bem.
Your mother is right We also use the verb saber to describe the taste of something. It’s an alternative meaning. However, to refer to the action of tasting something, we use the verb provar.
Examples:
João, prova isto. Sabe bem? (João, taste this. Does it taste good?)
A sopa sabia mal. (The soup tasted bad)
O jantar soube-me muito bem. (Dinner tasted very good to me)
We can even use it more abstractly, in the sense of feeling good for doing something.
Soube-nos bem falar sobre os nossos problems. (It felt good for us to talk about our problems)
Sabe bem pagar tão pouco (It feels good to pay so little - this is actually from a TV ad, hah).
We also use the verb saber to describe the taste of something. It’s an alternative meaning. However, to refer to the action of tasting something, we use the verb provar.