My favourite smells
April 4th 2011 10:11
Spices
Walking into an Indian restaurant is like walking into no other kind of restaurant. It is the greatest irony of epicureanism that a common use of spices for a long time was to disguise the flavour of less than fresh meat. Today, I buy fresh meat as an accessory to my favourite spices. They are encapsulated in my jar of Kashmiri masala mix. To open it, and release the aromas of coriander, cumin, pepper, cinnamon, cardamom and cloves, is to summon the ghost of Epicurus.
4.
Breakfast
I have known two vegetarians who have admitted to me – only because they trusted me never to tell anyone they said this – that after years of vegetarianism the smell of frying bacon was the one thing which could send a shudder through the fabric of their lifestyle resolve. Personally, I think there is a holy triumvirate of breakfast smells: frying bacon, toasting bread and brewing coffee. Any one of them lifts the heart. Put all three together, and the world’s troubles are banished.
Lavender oil
The world of essential oils is a complex and fascinating one. There are many of them, and they provide some of the most intense and pleasurable smells in the known universe, with the bonus of being therapeutic. Users will have personal favourites, but lavender oil must be the universal representative. It is the base oil with which all others are mixed. Lavender oil is the essential essential oil.
2.
Forest rain
The combination of weather and geography has been responsible for many of the best-loved lines in poetry and literature. The baking tropics, a stormy sea, the smell of a rose garden carried on an afternoon breeze - these things are amongst nature’s olfactory treasures. My favourite is early morning in a rainforest after overnight rain. Nothing can be fresher than this.
1.
Woman
This one is personal indeed, and I live at least a hundred years too late to indulge in it naturally. With apologies to straight women and gay men, I am talking about the natural scent of a woman. Napoleon understood. He is said to have sent a note to Josephine saying: “Home in five days, don’t wash.” Soap is a far less exciting smell.
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