Decanter Covid loss of smell: End of the nose for wine lovers?
One of Covid-19’s persistent symptoms is the loss or distortion of the sense of smell – and for wine lovers and professionals alike, this can be devastating. Victoria Moore explores the science behind Covid’s impact on the nose and learns how those affected are coping
Cooking a curry recipe from the restaurant group Dishoom’s cookbook on the first night of a Norfolk holiday last July, Barney Child noticed something odd. ‘The recipe calls for huge amounts of garlic, like crazy amounts. But the smell of the garlic was completely weird. I thought it must be old garlic or, maybe because I’d cut so much up, I’d freaked my brain out. Then the next morning I made an espresso and it smelled very, very strange – a kind of chemical smell that’s hard to describe.’