As she recovered from a broken pelvis, a fractured skull and other injuries, she realized that one of her grand passions, relishing the taste and fragrance of food, had evaporated from her life. Head trauma from the accident had led to nerve damage, and Ms. Birnbaum, months away from enrolling in the Culinary Institute of America, couldn’t smell a thing.
— Read more at The Cook Who Couldn’t Taste at the New York Times. Hat tip to Kevin!
I can’t imagine losing my sense of smell-how awful! I have friends who are professional chefs and heavy smokers, I wonder if the smoking coats their pallette?
I understand many perfumers are also smokers.
What a tragedy!
I really should have read the whole article before posting – not so tragic, as her sense of smell did return…but wow. I can’t imagine how awful it would be to lose it…even for a short period of time!
That’s ok — I think it was still very sad! Imagine spending even a couple years without your sense of smell.
oh god, if i’d, even just temporarily, lose my sense of smell/taste, i’d seriously cry all day about it.
I’d have to find a new hobby, that’s for sure!
I knew someone in grad school who had no sense of smell. He used to eat catsup on white bread! I guess sweet, sour, salty catsup was about as flavorful as it got for him.