the Geeky Nose

I like to geek out over smell and thank both of my parents for inheriting and training me. The smell from my mum and the brain from my dad. 🥰

The NOSE is the honorary name for THE person in a perfume business who blends the different odours to the magical solutions we buy in fancy bottles of Chanel, Dior, Versace etc. 

If you’re interested in learning more about this profession, watch the movie Nose for a unique inside in the Dior perfume making business. Or read the book “Perfume” for a bit more obscure inside in the sense of smell.

As a child I always was the one to smell something first or even the only one. I’ve also always been very good at distincting different odours in a dish, blend etc.

I was fascinated by the book Das Parfum (Perfume) by Partick Süskind which I read for my German literature exams.  Do you have a book like that? I’ve read 51 books in two years for my Grammar School literature exams and honestly can’t remember much of it. But this one I still remember…..

The novel explores the sense of smell and its relationship with the emotional meanings that scents may have. In a very extreme way, of course for storytelling purposes, but fascinating nevertheless.

In the end smell is a very powerful sense

and for most people directly related to memories and emotions. 

Remember the last time you smelled something as an adult and got immediately catapulted back to your childhood, or that amazing holiday, or in remembering that dear person?

For me, my well developed sense of smell is of course a huge asset in the kitchen and I can thank my mum for not so much inheriting my sense of smell, but above all for training it.  

Yes you can train your sense of smell.

Or more precisely, you can train your brain to categorise and therefore remember scents.

And this is where my geeky brain comes into play. I love making my own spice mixtures, just because I love things being different. 

Oh and I hate the amount of salt you find in store bought rubs, marinades etc….but that’s a whole new topic for another post.

But to make a good and above all balanced mix you have to know a little bit about the different odours present in different spices. And being geeky about this I of course love diving deep into the science behind these odours and taste elements, figuring out why some balance each other out and why some clash completely. 

Did you for instance know that the main taste of garlic comes from sulphur-containing compounds that make it pungy, but it also has more subtle compounds like limonene (citrus/herby) and sabinene (woody/piney/orangey)? And depending on the combination you make you can of course enhance certain scents and tastes.

Combined with chilli’s you enhance the pungency, while ginger or lemongrass strengthen the citrus and sweet aromas. Black cardamom intensifies the smokiness and woodiness, where nutmeg or mace reinforces notes of earthy sweetness.

Well I guess you can now tell I like geeking out about spices? 

And of course making your own mixtures and learning how to combine, not only spices amongst each other, but also with which vegetables and other ingredients, is a module in my GESHMAK Program. 

In the end eating fresh vegetables can become a bit boring if you serve them the same way three times a week 🤗 But with different spices it becomes incredibly easy to vary and make those in season vegetables exciting time after time even if you’d eat them three times a week. 

So if you like to cook and want to eat more in balance with the season, but keep the fun of eating delicious, differently and varied throughout the month, my GESHMAK Program is for you. 

To find out more, send me a DM with your favourite vegetables that could do with some more excitement and we can have a chat to see whether the program is indeed a good fit for you.

Love (nosy&geeky) Émely

P.S. If you want to do some further research on your own check out the book: “ the Science of Spice” by Dr. Stuart Farrimond.