My friend Aisha has a new theory: instead of suppressing the craving for a slice of chocolate cake, smell it. Fool the brain into thinking that chocolate cake will soon be consumed and the craving goes away; the brain isn’t all that smart, she says. She got the idea from a sitcom, where lean, muscular thirty-somethings lounge on a bench outside a bakery, inhaling the aroma of oven-fresh goodies while sipping on their low-fat soy milk lattes.
The theory, coming from a serial dieter and derived from a sitcom, may not be exactly foolproof. But I do think she’s on to something. Scientists say the tongue can only detect five kinds of taste, while our sense of smell can perceive approximately 10,000 different aromas. Flavour, therefore, is a combination of taste and smell. When you get a cold, for example, food tastes bland because the nose is blocked up.
But it takes more than a whiff of yum to satiate appetite or craving. The smell of daal tadka – onions and cumin frying in oil – makes my mouth water; I don’t just want to sniff the daal, I want to decant it into a bowl and slurp up big spoonfuls. Any form of baking too – whether it’s yeasty, buttery, laced with vanilla or chocolate – wafting warm from an oven makes me want to stuff hefty slices into my mouth. But then my willpower isn’t that good.
The good folk at Disney figured this out years ago and came up with something called the ‘smellitizer’. Artificial aromas are dispersed through vents to recreate familiar, seductive scents. So the bakery on Main Street, Disneyland, disperses the smell of chocolate chip cookies, while peppermint floats from the candy shop. Diabolical, huh? Those Mickey Mouse ears are clearly satanic symbols.
But a seductive food smell also does more than provoke a food binge, it evokes memory. Apparently, the pleasure and memory parts of the brain are closely linked with the portion that sorts through the catalogue of smells. Of course, scientists could tell me anything, given that I don’t know the difference between a hypothalamus and hypochondria. But I do trust Marcel Proust, who wrote:
…the smell and taste of things remain poised a long time, like souls, ready to remind us, waiting and hoping for their moment, amid the ruins of all the rest; and bear unfaltering, in the tiny and almost impalpable drop of their essence, the vast structure of recollection.
Warm baking smells takes me back to my childhood when my mother made jam, chocolate, and peanut butter biscuits, and soft, spongey birthday cakes daubed thick with butter-cream icing. I guess, for me, they represent celebration, security, and love – things that tend to get complicated as one gets older. Similarly, the strong, bitter scent of coffee brewing takes me back to the adventure of summer vacations; the smell of lasooran ka achaar reminds me of my grandmother, who made it in huge glazed earthenware pots. I don’t even know what it’s called in English, and because its bitterness is an acquired taste, I suppose that’s why I haven’t seen the commercial variety in shops either. It is a condiment condemned to memory.
Itinerant nostalgia aside, it’s ironic that not everything that smells bad, tastes good: cabbage, for example, certain cheeses or sulphurous boiled eggs. Blogger Peter Cherches puts it more pithily:
There are plenty of foods that taste better than they smell. Walk into the lobby of an apartment building full of Eastern European immigrants; you’ll forget for a minute that cabbage can actually taste good.
Wake up and smell the gorgonzola.
Roses smell divine, but you wouldn’t put them in a salad. Apparently, our sense of smell is a function of evolutionary survival, to tell whether food has gone bad or is safe to eat. Similarly, pregnant women have a heightened sense of smell so they can protect their foetuses. But that doesn’t explain why the aroma of sesame oil from a colleague’s lunch salad sent me retching in the office bathroom when I was pregnant. I guess one man’s poison is another man’s perfume.
So, I pose to you the question: what’s your favourite or least favourite food smell and why?
Amber Rahim Shamsi is a mother, journalist, and foodie whose experiments in the kitchen haven’t always turned out quite right. But that hasn’t stopped her from trying, to the dismay of her family.
The following reader comments do not necessarily reflect the views and policies of the Dawn Media Group.
Wow, I believe what you said earlier may be very true. Displays what I am experiencing. Nicely since I’m already here, wonder if you would be variety enough to alternate hyperlinks with my site. I shall be inserting your hyperlink within the blogroll part, and I hope that our hyperlink change may also help us make our blogs better. Hope you are able to fulfill my humble request.
great post… informative and well written..
BTW I have read and like all your previous posts on food here..
I recently lost over 60lbs and went from size 42 waist to a 34. Exercise was a huge factor, but I would have to say what we eat and when is a more crucial factor. I try to eat 5-6 smaller protein-rich meals with plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables. Also, I eat my biggest meal of the day in the morning and taper off with subsequent ones throughout the day. This helps get the metabolism going and keeps the appetite under control. Obese people often eat less than I do, except they skip breakfast, chug sugary sodas all day, snack on greasy carb-laden junk food and then gorge before dinner and up until bedtime. By doing that, you are essentially telling your body to store fats and metabolize foods at a slower rate.
I recently lost over 60lbs and went from size 42 waist to a 34. Exercise was a huge factor, but I would have to say what we eat and when is a more crucial factor. I try to eat 5-6 smaller protein-rich meals with plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables. Also, I eat my biggest meal of the day in the morning and taper off with subsequent ones throughout the day. This helps get the metabolism going and keeps the appetite under control. Obese people often eat less than I do, except they skip breakfast, chug sugary sodas all day, snack on greasy carb-laden junk food and then gorge before dinner and up until bedtime. By doing that, you are essentially telling your body to store fats and metabolize foods at a slower rate.
I like the smell and taste of pizza. It makes me go hungry even if i am full.
The talk is of smell. How about the sight? For example Biryani. To the outsider, lets say, a woman with a Cindy Crawford appearance sipping non-fat latte from Starbucks might by lucky to inhale the smell of Biryani and debate whether to indulge it or not. Let her debate. Her problem is that gender is the destiny. To the insiders who carry a memory chip in their head, the smell is a catalyst. And of course the sight. It is time to throw the weapons to the ground. For time has come to behave like a human and reach out for the obvious. Hardly a time to think of consequences. At worst, the workout figure might have to do the extra work at the gym but it is a payback for the pleasures. The pleasures of eating certainly not with fingers but with spoon and not merely smelling. Let the expression stands: The world is for the brave.
After reading all the posts, it seems to all that only Non Veg foods are having aroma/flavour.
Come to Chennai and I will show you the real aroma of filter coffee, Steaming Idlis,Crisp Masala Dosa, Sambar, Vadai, Ghee Pongal etc (All Veg)
YUMMY Dude!!! you got my mind craving for Desi Khana
I have eaten most of these items and I endorse that they taste very good. No it is not necessary that onlyNon Veg Food can be tasty. Veg can be equally or at times tastier than Non Veg Food.
I hate the smell of dhanya. It actually gives me headache. I love the smell of so many dishes that its hard to pen. Basically I am fond of eating. I love the smell of bbcued meat. I cannot define how happy I am when biryani is being cooked. When steaks are being made that is also so mouth watering. I just had a gulp.
Ah how can I forget the hot tea. I must tell you that I do not take tea bag tea. I still buy the tea leaves in packets and still use the spoon for measuring one for each cup. I wake up very early on holidays as well so when everyone is sleeping I say my morning prayers and make my favourite tea. I sit in front of the tv and enjoy sipping. Really it is good to see the sun rise on holidays. I think it is a waste of a holiday to pass it in bed – sleeping. I go out have fun, study at home, meet with people, read my favorite books. To me this is a very good way to enjoy the holiday with wonderful food and family.
If you happen to come to Jeddah, Makkah or Medina in Saudi Arabia, I can bet you won’t be able to resist the smell of Al-Baik broast. The proof to support is millions of Umrah and Hajjis (pilgrims) who visit these cities go nuts upon the smell of Al-Baik chicken broast.
My feeling is that 1- You have to be hungry, 2- The aroma of the food must be inviting, 3- Taste comes last but not the least…
You friend Aisha is right. Ask dieters. We have to find creative ways to fool our brains.
I have very limited choice of enjoying Indian/Pakistani food outside. The sad part is that restaurants have very attractive menu but all dishes taste more or less the same.
nice post keep it up
Entire cultures are built around the importance of good food. One cannot think about places such as Thailand, Japan, Greece, India ,Pakistan or France without thinking about the food. Families and friends gather around food. Obsessions are legendary about the quest for perfect recipes. Wars have been fought over the control of spices, chocolate, and coffee. Food also has long been an analogy for sexual passion, and many foods are considered to be aphrodisiacs. There have only been a few movies that could translate the tastes and aromas of good food into film. These movies employ themes of using food to gather people together or to ignite passions.
Western New York has no shortage of perpetually busy Italian-American restaurants, and though there are some exceptional places that people are willing to drive out of their way to enjoy, there are very strong others that attract steady crowds with consistently good food and friendly service. Trattoria Aroma on Main Street in Williamsville is in the latter camp, a cozy, dimly lit venue that has yet to serve us a bad meal, and on occasion actually delivers exemplary ones. Though the entrees at Aroma aren’t cheap or massive, it’s rare to leave feeling disappointed with the quality.
Salams to Amber Rahim Shamsi , if you do come to States please be our guest
As you munch on a loaf or two of complementary bread drenched in a tasty green pesto, you’ll note that Trattoria Aroma’s menu is a limited, single-page set of options that are augmented by legitimately special specials. Divided roughly into quarters, the menu consists of appetizers that sell for between $6 and $16, including salads such as the Insalada Griglia ($9), a beautiful balsamic vinegrette-drenched half heart of romaine lettuce covered in parma proscuitto, thin strips of roasted red peppers, chunks of gorgonzola, and pine nuts. Offered as an alternative to a classic Caesar, which isn’t on the menu, the Griglia was seriously excellent, deftly mixing small dashes of sweet peppers with little bits of chewy cheese, crunchy, sour-sauced lettuce and soft, slightly salty ham. The $6 Aroma house salad had other members of our most recent group smiling, too, but not as wide as the Griglia.
I really like all the articles by Amber Rahim because I am fond of cooking and eating. I like the the smell of pulao and zarda made by my sweet mother and I really now miss that..believe me I could not get even a single good dish here in china and that’s why sometimes we miss our dear country alot. We are fed up of Chinese food……….
There is smell and then there is SMELL. The smell of food to remember only came from the kitchens of our home when I was growing up as a child in Hyderabad in India or growing up as a teenager in Karachi. This has never been substituted anywhere else since leaving the sub-continent almost fifty years ago.
“Dal with a fresh tandouri nan” when one is cravingly hungry.
Thousands of Australians, including Victorian Premier John Brumby, on Wednesday treated themselves to Indian cuisine like ‘naan’ and ‘tandoori chicken’ as they joined a mass dining event to protest attacks against Indians.
Brumby joined a few leading Indian and Pakistani community members like Primus Telecom chief Ravi Bhatia for lunch at an Indian restaurant ‘Desi Dhaba’ in the up-market Flinders street.
The mass dining is part of ‘Vindaloo Against Violence’ campaign launched as a reaction to a spate of attacks against Indians across the city and resulting negative coverage around the world.
Brumby said the response from Victorians to the initiative demonstrated the community’s commitment to unite in solidarity with the Indians and celebrate multiculturalism.Amber Rahim Shamsi is very charming person
Its not food but….
I cannot stand the smell of Mehendi…
Too bad for my “to be” wife.
The best of smells would be passing by the English biscuits Factory. Truly Hypnotic…!
LOLZ! Yeah true, smell while passing by the EBM is great!
Hi,
the smell of Aaloo gosht(Mutton and potatoes curry) leaves me craving for the curry made by my grand mother. Nothing can beat that! Thank you for evoking such fond memories through this blog.
Hasan
I second that!
Even after a hard day’s work, when I’m not particularly hunger (and probably have had something big for lunch), my mum’s aloo ghost for dinner is truly irresistible. I could probably have about 4-5 rootis at a time, and mind you, I’m not much of a meat-eater :p
I live in America, and I cant tell you how bad the food tastes compared to Pakistan. The Pakistani meats and vegetables are the best in the world. Here in American meats taste like cardboard paste.
if you don’t eat sugar, you can easily loose weight in USA.
Imran
Looks like you have never been to good Pakistani eating places, come to California
By reading this article it bring tears in my eyes by my all growing up memories and about Pakistan.
hmmmmmm I’ve been away from home for way too long soo the aroma’s that ignites my appetite and memories are those of home domestic cooking – love’s the smell of curry’s and karhai nd stuff
Well my favourite food smell is that of Chicken Biryani and Pulao. It just makes me want to eat them more and more. I find it very difficult to stop eating even after I am full just because of their aroma.
And in taste I love SAAG. I used to eat it with freshly cooked Roti and Butter. The mixed aroma of fresh Roti, Butter and the taste of SAAG = Heaven
But now I really miss all these good food and plan on eating them on my next visit to Pak.
saag is truly divine , but I prefer it with purani roti
The aromas that do it for me are the smell of sambhar,freshly ground green chutney,freshly ground mustard for use in mustard fish curry,mutton curry…I could go on and on.I have a pet theory for why the food that we get nowadays doesn’t smell half as good as it used to when I was growing up and that is that we do not use wet freshly ground maslas any more.The stuff that comes in packets doesn’t smell or taste half as good.
One topic that the blogger could investigate it is the correlation between womens emancipation and food not tasting/smelling half as good when I was growing up as a child in small town India.Seriously.
2 FAVOURITES…
1. Coffee…I don’t drink it that much …but I love its aroma…that’s the reason I go to coffee shops every now and then.
2. Chocolates….it takes me to another level as soon as I open a choc box….I would eat all the chocs and then would smell the box…its divine…its another world………..
Hi
My MOST favorite food smell is that of Karahi ( Mutton or chicken ) as it evokes a strong sense of being a Pakistani in me . It is a smell that strengthens my Pakistani Identity deep down inside . I don’t know if this sounds crazy but that’s the way it is !!
Left me getting hungry and missing Pakistan.=p