foodperson.com

One of your most useful tools in the kitchen may be one you overlook, so to speak. That tool is your good old sense of smell.

Everyone uses the nose (at least I hope!) to savor the aroma of simmering sauce, brewing coffee, baking bread. Or to alert you before the smoke alarm to the burning toast or the steamer pan boiled dry under the broccoli. (Nasty smell, that.)

As helpful as those sensations are, I think the nose helps me more in telling when things are done, and it does it much more reliably than a timer. How’s that? It seems that with most whole foods, the release of scent says, “I’m done.” For instance:

• the nuts roasting in the toaster oven or in a skillet on the stovetop
• the steaming broccoli (while there’s still water in the pan)
• the garlic sizzling in olive oil
• the oil being heated for a stir-fry

When they become fragrant check ‘em. They probably are ready to come off the stove in the first two examples, or to receive the next ingredient, in the second pair of examples. Remember, cooking continues for a bit after things come off the heat.

Wait a little longer, though, and the nuts will burn, the broccoli will stink, the garlic will smell unpleasant and then burnt, and the oil will atomize and become downright dangerous.

Yes, use your schnoz. It’s reliable, and it’s free.

Proviso: Don’t bet on the nose, though, if you are running a powerful and effective exhaust fan.