They say that smell is our most powerful sense connected to memory. It’s also probably the sense I’d give up first if I had to sacrifice one. Touch, taste, sight and hearing all seem more vital to survival and day to day happiness, so even though smell is the most powerful, for me it’s also the first to go.
While I stand behind the statement above, I had recent reason to doubt it. Laura made soup last week and asked me to season it, so I opened the wooden door of our three-shelf spice cabinet and realized that this might be one of my favorite ways to enjoy the sense. I imagine that most Western spice cabinets smell pretty similar with a few variations, and it’s worth pausing for a moment the next time you’re in your spice cabinet to savor the pungent blend of savory, earthy, herby, peppery, warmish, sweetish, clovish, curryish aromas.
You know, scratch that idea, you don’t need to pause for a moment when next you’re in your spice cabinet. I bet if you take a moment now you can quite quickly conjure up the aromatic concoction in your mind.
After all, they say that smell is our most powerful sense connected to memory.