This article appeared as Cooks, Follow Your Nose in Zester Daily in 2011. The great Marcella Hazan complimented me on it, noting that she also cooked using her nose. Unfortunately, the magazine has since been revamped and the article no longer appears online. In tribute to all of the cooks who follow their nose, I’m reprinting it here.

The best way to find a perfectly ripe tomato has little to do with its shape, color or size. It is the unmistakable scent of salty caramel that demonstrates a tomato is at its peak. While green tomatoes can be reddened with ethylene gas, furaneol, the compound that gives tomatoes their distinctive aroma, accumulates only when a fruit is allowed to fully mature on the vine. Strawberries and mangoes share the same compound and other fruits contain analogous aromatic molecules when fully ripe. But how often do cooking shows and magazines describe how produce should smell? Though we learn how to make colorful compositions on the dinner plate, when do we learn how to use our nose to explore food combinations? Understanding the role of aroma and the power of our nose is essential for eating well.

Our sense of smell comprises a comparatively large fraction of our genetic makeup. We use more than 1000 different sensory receptors to analyze a smell, each receptor with its own genetic code. The ability to distinguish subtleties among smells is enormous and was of great importance when our prehistoric ancestors relied on hunting and gathering to survive.

Though supermarkets have obviated the need for daily foraging, scent, closely linked to our sense of taste, is a cornerstone of our food enjoyment. The process of chewing food releases aromatic compounds that are detected by the olfactory receptors in the nasal passages. While we are likely to comment on how food tastes, we are making the judgment based on how it smells. Yet, our supermarkets are deodorized to the point of sterility, our produce is often hermetically sealed in plastic wrap, and our cookbooks read like IKEA design guides. Moving past visual appeal to explore other sensations associated with food opens up new horizons and leads to a richer culinary experience.

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Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Ukraine celebrates these holidays on January 7th and 14th respectively because the Orthodox Church follows the calendar proposed by Julius Caesar. Yes, we hold onto old traditions.

Nataliya of Experience Ukraine and I will lead a tour in Ukraine on June 2-9, 2020, and it will be a chance to discover more about Ukrainian culture, food, and of course, scents. I can’t be impartial, perhaps, but for the past few years I have been traveling extensively in Ukraine and every trip has been memorable. Nataliya feels the same way, which is why we’re so passionate in sharing these discoveries with you.

To give you a little preview, we’re hosting a #ukrainianscentandtasteadventure giveaway on Instagram: my prize will be an English translation of Nikolai Gogol’s The Night Before Christmas, handmade Ukrainian church incense, and linden blossom hydrosol and Nataliya will contribute an antique hand-loomed rushnyk, hand towel. We will select two winners randomly.

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I have many reasons to love Brussels, and the Art Nouveau architecture is one of them. You can stroll through the city and come across the most beautiful examples of this imaginative art style. Such wealth is not surprising, because Art Nouveau was set into motion by the Belgian architect Victor Horta and he’s considered one of the main founders of the movement. Horta was born on this day in 1861. Using novel glass and ironwork techniques and new materials, Horta created the look that defined Art Nouveau–swaying lines, Japanese inspired motifs, whimsical structures and warm light.

Some of his notable works in Brussels included the Maison du Peuple in Brussels, (1895-1900); The Centre for Fine Arts (1923-1929), and the Brussels Central Station (1913-1952). Alas, the Maison du Peuple was demolished in 1965 during the same craze for Brutalism that left Brussels and other European cities with many eyesores.

One of my favorite buildings by Horta is the Hôtel Tassel (1893), its beautiful staircase is captured in the image above. Since it’s privately owned, it’s difficult to visit, but Horta’s house is now the Museum of Victor Horta and it gives you a good sense of his style. If you’re in Brussels, don’t miss the chance to marvel at the architect’s fantasy and ingenuity.

How would you scent the place in the photograph? 

Happy New Year! My best wishes for 2020 to all of you. I hope that this year will be a healthy and peaceful one, but also that it will be full of new discoveries and adventures. For my part, I’ll contribute by sharing my favorite books, perfumes and places with you. Also, if you would like to join me on one particular trip, my perfume course will be the Ukrainian Scent and Taste Adventure this year (June 2-9, 2020). I look forward to meeting some of you there.

Our scent diary is back for 2020, and the premise is the same as before. You can write about anything you wish in this thread, but for those who would like to use the Scent Diary to sharpen their sense of smell, I will give a short explanation. As I wrote in How to Improve Your Sense of Smell, the best way to sharpen your nose is to smell and to pay attention to what you’re smelling. It doesn’t matter what you smell. The most important thing is to notice whatever you smell around you. It’s even better if you write it down. So please share your scents and perfumes with us.

Did you make any resolutions?

Photography by Bois de Jasmin

When it comes to  fragrances, 2019 has been a good year. There have been the usual commercial releases, but innovative launches were also numerous. I particularly liked the collection by L’Officine Universelle Buly 1803 created in collaboration with the Louvre that gave scent to some of the museum’s famous works. Carine Roitfeld’s line was likewise interesting, with a number of memorable perfumes.

As always, my list is personal and idiosyncratic. I didn’t aim to include everything, but rather the perfumes that caught my attention the most this year and the ones I wore. These are the fragrances that will accompany me into 2020. I look forward to hearing about your 2019 favorites.

Carine Roitfeld Parfums George

Carine Roitfeld Parfums was created by the former editor-in-chief of Vogue Paris. The line includes seven unisex fragrances, Aurélien, George, Kar-Wai, Lawrence, Orson, Sebastian and Vladimir, inspired by fictional love stories. I ended up with a travel set, which I found excellent given that the premise of the collection is travel. Each lover takes his paramour to a different city, from Paris to Hong Kong. My choice was George, effervescent but with a suave finish. I also liked Lawrence, who comes bearing jasmine garlands.

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