“The whole point of that aroma is not to flavor the food,” he said. “This is what happens to me personally when we set oak leaves on fire—I’m transported to my youth, raking the leaves in front of my house, jumping into the leaves, and setting them on fire.” He went on, “What we try to do is really search out that kind of emotional trigger.”
Before going to Chicago, I reread this New Yorker profile of Alinea chef Grant Achatz. Achatz lost his sense of taste after undergoing treatment for tongue cancer. The story chronicles his rediscovery of flavor from sweet, to bitter, to salty. The above reminds me of the scene in Ratatouille when Anton Ego takes his first bite of the ratatouille. Love.