Eat different kinds of rice, and you'll notice they have different scents or flavors. But yeah, it's a little subtle. Just think of the difference similarly to how a sweet-toothed brat will prefer white bread to whole grain wheat.
That aside, Nipponese food wank is annoying. Yeah, it's probably better than whatever middle age trash peasants are used to eating, but I wish it got a little less focus. The MC still hasn't realized she's not a cosplayer. I know one of the few things the Japanese can unanimously enjoy is their food, but c'mon. Focus on bringing the plot forward.