priya.cardamomin Learning to Smell · Toronto ·
ChallengeThread of the week: five spice jars, lids off
Thread of the week: the spice cupboard, smelled blind. Toronto has turned cold and the chai pot hasn't left the stove, so this one felt right.
1) Ask someone to pick five jars without showing you the labels.
2) Lids off, one at a time, a few centimetres from your nose. Nothing tasted, nothing on skin.
3) Three words per jar before you guess, then check.
Mine: I called the cardamom eucalyptus and the ginger lemon. If cardamom catches you too, the cardamom page in the Notes explains where it comes from. Over to you.
11 comments
dex_in_brooklyn
cumin got me. i said sweaty gym bag and my roommate nearly 86'd me from the kitchen. your going to laugh, i cook with it every night
nell.wattle
Did it after school this arvo and cinnamon and cloves fooled me. The Class on training your nose with your spice rack says the main molecule in clove oil is also extracted from cinnamon, which might be why.
ash.and.ember
Black pepper I got straight away. Everything else smelled like 'brown'.
priya.cardamom
That's a real start, Ash. Next round, try only two jars and say what separates them.
aroha.rain
Nutmeg was the hard one, its like a linen cupboard and a fruit cake at once
juniper_jules
Smoked paprika smelled more like the kiln after a firing than any spice, pure campfire.
ingrid_berlin
Cardamom: cold, a little menthol, all high frequencies. Clove: one long low note.
joon.yuzu
TL;DR: 3 out of 5. Cinnamon and clove swapped, same as Nell. The pair everyone trips on. That's my two cents.
jess.in.philly
Ours are all baking spices because that's all we own. Vanilla was the only easy one.
dex_in_brooklyn
ok so update: did it again with jars from work. cumin right this time, you're looking at a changed man
petey_pepper
Did it with my buddy after the game. Got the pepper, obviously, and called the allspice cloves.