When Pigs Fly and Rosemary Focaccia

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When I watch the Great British Bake Off/Baking Show (which, admittedly isn't that often, but when such an occasion occurs, for example, when my housemates or friends watch it) I can practically sniff the ingredients through the screen. I've always been good at picking apart ingredients just through my nose, though no one should ever dare test me on that.

When I walk into a Subway or any deli, I melt. No, it's not the roast beef or meatballs, it's the smell of Italian Herb & Cheese bread. Italian seasoning, with its oregano, basil and thyme; they're all very distinct scents that have always stood out to me, along with baked bread in general, which leads to no surprise that one of my favorite places to exist in is When Pigs Fly. There are so many loaves of bread. So many oils and jams. I could pick apart the herbs in a focaccia, and one particular scent that I can always identify is rosemary. I have at least two people that can fact-check me on this, that have been exposed to these powers.  I'm certainly no prodigy of the nose, like Helen Keller, as Diane Ackerman writes about in A Natural History of the Senses, nor am I a Sophia Grojsman, but I am keen to fragrances.

Ackerman describes aromatic memories, scents that bring us back to a different time, a different place. Stepping into a Subway doesn't necessarily envelop me into the past, though I do have a very clouded memory, so perhaps I had a really wonderful experience in a Subway as a child; my sandwich was extra toasted, etc,. I do opt to eat a Subway when I am with my grandmother, and those are pleasant lunches, so my love for Subway aromas could stem from that.

Regardless, the smell of fresh baked bread is a scent I want to wrap myself in for eternity. When I get a whiff of rosemary and other Italian seasonings I long for some focaccia, or Italian bread in general. Warm fresh baked bread is the way to the soul.



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