I discovered recently that I find the smell of flour to be very comforting. Even though I mostly focus on desserts, where the prominent flavor is sweetness, flour seems to have a very calming effect on me.
My first impression on the matter is that I have often baked things as an act of service to someone else, so I have come to associate the act of baking with feeling positive about doing kind deeds. Certainly there have been times that I bake because I want some cookies or brownies or something, but nearly every time, I end up sharing what I've made with someone else.
But there's something else. Why is it the smell of flour and not vanilla extract or brown sugar or even baking soda? It could be that I encounter those other aromas in situations that are not related to baking, such as brown sugar in my oatmeal or baking soda used for cleaning (after the fly attack, I used baking soda to deodorize my carpet). However, I think it also connects back to my childhood.
Smell is supposed to be the sense most closely connected to memory, sometimes not a particular memory, but to a span of time where that smell would be associated. The smell of burning plastic still reminds me of a job where I one of my duties was shrink-wrapping books, but the entire job comes to mind, not any individual project or book title.
Perhaps the reason I find the smell of flour comforting is because I remember spending a lot of time grinding wheat into flour so that my mom could bake bread. I was the designated "grinder," probably because even then I could do monotonous tasks without complaining (though, I probably did complain and I just don't remember it). For a few years, I would spend some time everyday grinding the wheat into flour. I was very close to the flour as it poured out of the mill, some of it undoubtedly flying into the air, making the aroma very intense. I remember the fresh-baked bread as always being a treat. When we would make sandwiches out of it, it seemed strange. This bread was for eating by itself or with just a bit of butter, not for making sandwiches out of.
Maybe the reason the smell of flour is comforting is both the memories I have of it as a child, and the time I've spent with it as an adult. The time periods are very different, but for both time of my life, I have associated flour with service. And right now, any reminder of working is a positive one.
2 comments:
You rotated with your siblings in the grinding duties. Perhaps you don't remember them doing it because you were doing something else. And you did complain--constantly. I'm glad this has become a positive memory for you.
Grinding the wheat into flour was a way of channeling your excess energy into a positive activity. I am glad you have fond memories of freshly made bread.
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