The symbols beneath the bowls

A newly written account of an invented tasting session.

Three groups at a cookery class each prepared a vegetable soup. Before the tasting began, the organiser poured the soups into identical bowls and marked the base of each bowl with a different symbol. Only the organiser kept the list showing which symbol belonged to each group.

The tasters could therefore form their opinions without knowing who had made each soup. Once all the comment sheets had been collected, the organiser used the list to match the comments to the correct recipes. Each group then received the feedback about its own soup.

In your own words, explain two uses of the symbols beneath the bowls.