Favorite cooking aromas?

[Toliver]

Last night the weather was cool enough I could finally cook something in the oven. So it was a hickory smoked spiral sliced ham from Costco with that clove-cinammon glaze added at the end. Heaven! I can still smell the spice the next morning.

Thanks to the eGullet Dinner! discussion, I discovered I really enjoy the aroma of roasting carrots with cumin in the oven. Funny how the aroma smells so much stronger than the actual taste of the cumin-roasted carrots.

[Corinna]

Sometimes I wish I could photograph fragrances. I always appreciate the smell of onions and garlic cooking with herbs, but am always astounded when I cook garlic with ginger. Love it!

[HowardLi]

Bread.

[SobaAddict70]

Chicken stock.

[paul o' vendange]

Late to the game (and many years away...another story)...but:

Brown stocks, esp. duck and other game; levain boule, when it first drops on the stones (any yeast bread baking, for that matter - both the early, unique smell of the bread as it caramelizes locally on the stones, and the bake itself); braised lamb shoulder ballon, when the strings are first snipped and the hours of herbs tucked inside, aromatics and meat goodness are first released. Any braise, really, esp. now, with the trees turning and the nights dropping low.

A full-blown mash, as barley starch converts to a beautiful complex of sugars; fresh, intense hops, the panoply of fresh citrus to effulgent floral.

Edited September 25, 2010 by paul o' vendange (log)

[ScottyBoy]

Nothing does it for me more than onions browning.

[plum tart]

The aroma of marmalade boiling on a cold January day.

[David Ross]

Today, it's the aroma of late harvest Washington peaches bathing in peach liqueur distilled in Hood River, Oregon--one of the Northwest's glorious cherry, peach, apple and pear growing regions.

[Shelby]

Spaghetti sauce with lots of garlic, onions, basil and 'maters straight from my garden drooooooooling

[David Ross]

Today, it's the aroma of late harvest Washington peaches bathing in peach liqueur distilled in Hood River, Oregon--one of the Northwest's glorious cherry, peach, apple and pear growing regions.

Edited to say that while the aroma of the peaches today was not technically a "cooking" aroma--it will technically become one next week when I bake these dear peaches in a Tarte Tatin.

[sparrowgrass]

The combination of woodsmoke and bacon. Smells best at dawn on a frosty morning.

[Luckylies]

OOOOh I'm goign to have to go with the simple combination of utter and shallots frying/ sweating....mmmm.

[paul o' vendange]

The combination of woodsmoke and bacon. Smells best at dawn on a frosty morning.

Can I toss in some apples into that pan afterwards, please, some good cheese, rustic bread and charcuterie, and a bruising cup or 3 of fire-brewed coffee?

We've finally gotten the first real snap of autumn, in our neck of the woods....smoke, fire, bacon...you nailed my favorite time and feel of year, as well. Remerciements!

[andiesenji]

To me, it is a tie between bread baking, apple pie - also baking and homemade sage-flavored sausage frying in a cast iron skillet.

There are other wonderful aromas but these are my favorites.

[Jaymes]

I absolutely love the aroma of chiles roasting. It fills the house with the most delightfully pungent smell. It reminds me of late summer and early autumn in New Mexico when sometimes it seems that the entire state is redolent with the aroma of chiles roasting, and the promise of an unending array of the most marvelous dishes to come.

[greenmountain]

anything on a charcoal grill, or even just the charcoal. Freshly toasted sesame seeds being ground in a mortar and pestle, onions, veal stock, coffee even though I never have had it, and a fresh out of the oven graham cracker crust. List could be endless.

[ChrisN]

Onions and garlic cooking. Also oregano--I remember a few times in Greece walking in the countryside; the smell of wild oregano could be overwhelming.

[Emily_R]

Last night was the best my house has ever smelled... On the menu was a slow-roasted free range chicken and scalloped tomatoes (tomatoes and sourdough bread, a little basil and garlic, topped with Parmesan cheese). The two sets of smells together was driving me mad.

[judiu]

anything on a charcoal grill, or even just the charcoal. Freshly toasted sesame seeds being ground in a mortar and pestle, onions, veal stock, coffee even though I never have had it, and a fresh out of the oven graham cracker crust. List could be endless.

You've never had COFFEE? My goodness; I jones for coffee, especially iced!

[nickrey]

I'd agree with many that onions cooking is probably my all time favourite. Garlic and bacon are way up there too in my favourite cooking smells.

I'm surprised that the smell of freshly baked cookies is not mentioned more frequently. When there is a cookie bakery in a shopping mall, you can home in on it by following your nose (and the others who are doing the same).

[percival]

I grew up next to both the Kebler factory and the Anheuser Busch plant. Can't stand the smell of cookies, hops, beer....

Nothing smells as divine as freshly made rice, while it's still steaming. You wanna bury your face in it.

[Lindacakes]

Gingerbread.

[Jaymes]

I'm surprised that the smell of freshly baked cookies is not mentioned more frequently. When there is a cookie bakery in a shopping mall, you can home in on it by following your nose (and the others who are doing the same).

To answer that only for myself, those mall cookies are so sweet that, to me anyway, they're unpleasant. The smell of those cookies baking just makes my teeth hurt.

The aroma of my own homemade cookies baking, on the other hand...

But the question was "favorite." Although there are so many cooking aromas that are enticing, as I said above, chiles roasting remains my favorite.