Foodie Chickie

Smell is a very important sense. It has always been to me. I have always appreciated the sense of smell more than the sense of taste. I always felt that the sense of smell was stronger. Without the ability smell a person can’t smell their morning coffee, or when their dinner is ready, or the smell afterwards when it has just finished raining, the smell of freshly cut lawn, a loaf of break baking or a newborn baby.

But smell can also take a person back to a different time in their lives. It can take them home. I guess this is why aromatherapy is such a hit.

I was making breakfast for myself this morning. I was cooking a Basterorma Omelet and the smell hit me strongly. It took me back to my aunt’s house when I was ten years old and visiting Armenian for the first time in five years. I could see my aunt’s face and the feast she had put out for my parents, brother and me. There were jams and bread, cheeses, olives and fruit and also a Basterorma omelet.

Basterorma is a dried Armenian deli meat. You can eat it with bread or in an omelet. It takes weeks to cure but it is worth it.

I also remembered my parents making Basterorma when they first brought their house. They would make the sauce to coat the meat with and then hang to dry. My brother and I would try to steal a bite before it was ready but we’d always get caught. The smell of that meat was just too much but in the end always worth it.