Aromas del mundo

In this work of astonishing wisdom and originality, Harold McGee distills the science behind scents into an accessible and highly entertaining guide to the scents of the world. Combining personal experiences and rigorous research, it incorporates the latest discoveries in biology and chemistry, and reveals how our sense of smell, a sense with a powerful but unknown influence on our daily lives, has the power to expose invisible and intangible details of the material world. , and cause extraordinary sensations. Dating back to the origins of scents in interstellar space, McGee tells the fascinating story of the molecules that trigger our perceptions on a daily basis, responsible for fragrances such as citrus aromas of coriander and beer and medicinal scents of daffodils and sea urchins. many of which existed before any creature could smell them. This book takes us on a sensory adventure in which we will smell the ordinary (wet street and cut grass) and the appetizing (fresh bread and chocolate), the delicious (roses and vanilla) and the unpleasant (bad meat and rotten eggs) From the sulphurous land that was born more than four billion years ago to the faint notes of phenol and formaldehyde on our computer keyboards. McGee tracks the odors of food, forests, rivers and flowers, and shows us with his usual mastery how to learn to detect, identify, value and combine them to transform our relationship with cuisine and flavors.