#sensory-memory

#sensory-memory

The smell hits you before you even open the door. That rich, warm aroma of garlic and herbs mixing with something deeper, something that makes your stomach growl even if you just ate lunch. It's the same smell that filled our house every single Sunday growing up, and now, years later, it still has the power to bring us all back to my mother's kitchen table.

It hits me like a wall as the glass doors slide open: an unidentifiable scent - toasted, warm and slightly sweet. At international markets, smell, inextricably linked to our memories and emotions, is often a one-way plane ticket home. Imported laundry detergent, tightly sealed jars of hard-to-find spices, fragrant incense and loose teas are all olfactory postcards. At Q Market & Produce in Lake Balboa, this is no different. Its scent, while unrecognizable to me, is a reminder to others of life in Iran.