I can't taste a thing!-What do chefs do?

I have been plagued by a sinus infection for two weeks and have lost my sense of taste/smell. I am sure it is temporary but it has freaked me out a bit. Could not smell the burning muffins in the oven an hour ago. What do chef's do when their sinus attack?

HI,

I would expect they have staff who are well, who will verify it tastes to profile or highly articulate on describing how food tastes. Beethoven used his imagination after he became deaf, which can be used only to some extent here.

Regards,

Dear Elfin,

I sincerely hope that your sinus issues clear up soon.

I had a virus attack my olfactory nerve a number of years ago. For a while, I could smell absolutely nothing. Couldn't smell gas escaping from the stove. I could not smell the difference between Italian parsley and cilantro. I burned a number of items when I wandered away from the stove and got distracted by something else. They'd overcook or burn and I'd return to find a scorched mess. I'm lucky I never had any fires or poisonings.

Eventually, great deal of my ability to *perceive* smell returned, but things have never tasted the same since I had that virus. Interestingly, if I don't *know* what it is I'm supposed to be eating, I sometimes have a hard time discerning what I'm tasting. Ocassionally, I've had to ask a fellow diner what they're tasting to have a useful frame of reference.

So, I have some ability to taste critically, but it relies as much on experience/knowledge as it does *taste*.

At one LTH picnic, I remember putting my nose directly into a durian and not being able to smell a thing.

So, short answer, Cathy's right. You need a friend/companion to help you smell. Your experience with food will, hopefully, help you taste if things are in balance. Remember, in addition to smell, there's also sweet, sour, bitter, salty & umami in 'taste'. But, wow, a lot of *taste* is actually *smell*.

If this doesn't clear up, I'd advise getting a gas/carbon monoxide sensor. Another side effect of this problem is a lessened ability to smell if food has gone off or not. I can attest that living alone and not being able to smell food that has gone bad [but not to the point of visibly so] can have some, um, unpleasant side effects.

Giovanna

Giovanna wrote:If this doesn't clear up, I'd advise getting a gas/carbon monoxide sensor. Another side effect of this problem is a lessened ability to smell if food has gone off or not. I can attest that living alone and not being able to smell food that has gone bad [but not to the point of visibly so] can have some, um, unpleasant side effects.

Giovanna

Not to hijack the thread but carbon monoxide gas is odorless and colorless. Everyone should have a CO detector in their residence.