I love how effective our olfactory nerves are at conjuring forgotten memories. As I stirred my ground turkey with mixed vegetables for the base of my Shepherd's Pie this evening, I was unexpectedly transported to the dining room of the dorm in which I stayed for the first half of my semester in Russia junior year.
I was standing in the hall outside the entrance, waiting my turn in line as the aroma of dinner wafted out the door.
I was seated at a small table for four, surrounded by walls painted a bright yellow with orange trim in a sad attempt to brighten the room in a way the dim bulbs overhead could not.
I'm going to have to guess Rosemary was a key ingredient to much of the cooking in those Russian meals that semester - as this was one of few recipes I've found which uses the herb, and I strongly doubt it was the pepper or steak seasoning that brought about such a journey down memory lane.
At least I now know which spice jar to turn to when I'm feeling homesick for Mother Russia.
Wow! Those are quite accurate memories you have there! I think the spice they like to over-use is dill and bay leaves. In absolutely everything. Take a whiff of one of those and see if they do the trick:) Do you really miss Russia?
ReplyDeleteI do miss Russia - all the time. I do think of Russia when I use bay leaves, but more for the memories of finding it in our soup than for the smell :) My husband doesn't like it when he gets the leaf - I try to tell him it's good luck, but he's not buyin' it.
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