08 Jul Oprah Daily: How to Make a Fragrance Memory of a Place You Love
Experimental psychologist Pamela Dalton doesn’t remember the first time she smelled cilantro. If she had to associate the scent with something, or someplace, it would probably be the supermarket, where she sniffed it to confirm what it wasn’t: parsley. But that changed a few years ago when she was traveling through Vietnam. She was wandering around a night market around 2 a.m., and the air was redolent with the earthy, citrusy aroma of cilantro. She says the intensity was overwhelming. To this day, when she smells cilantro, she’s transported. “It all comes back to me, the experience of walking through that market, the chatter of the vendors—it’s like I’m there again.”
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