Craig Giesecke: New Orleans’ secret aroma clock

Craig Giesecke

I walked out of the house late Thursday morning and the air in our Irish Channel neighborhood was fully pregnant with various food aromas.

It’s one of the awful prices we pay for living here. And, yes, I’m being facetious.

We live less than 100 yards from Parasol’s and 150 yards from Tracey’s.  There’s a Quizno’s and Coquette around the corner on Magazine. I got in the car and went to the French Quarter and parked across from the French Market before most places open at 11 a.m. All the smells from the places in the Market, from El Gato Negro, Coop’s, Margaritaville and the other spots hit me as I opened the car door.

Years ago, my job with UPI transferred me to Miami, where I lived in a La Quinta motel near the airport for a little over a month until my family could join me. There was a strip shopping center on one side of the motel and this shopping area included a Cuban restaurant. Every morning when I’d get in my rental car at 4:30 a.m., the tremendous smell of black beans would waft through the parking lot. Cuban black beans. With madeira or port in them. At 4:30 a.m. It was a wonderful way to start every workday.

Back in college at SMU in Dallas, across Mockingbird Lane from the campus, was a Mrs. Baird’s bakery. Despite the heavily manufactured product, the smell of fresh-baked bread would inundate the campus for any of us silly enough to have 8 a.m. classes. I pray that smell is still there, though I don’t know. Mrs. Baird might have moved out to the ‘burbs like everyone else anymore. I dunno.

Obviously, I’m a big believer in food smells. Smart restaurant operators arrange fans to push the aromas in the right directions. Even boil-in-bag, corporate stuff can smell like Heaven when the bag is opened and the essence is pointed the right way. Smart parents make sure the kids get a whiff of what’s for supper before going out to play after school. It makes finding them a lot easier when it’s time to eat.

Humidity permitting, I try to leave my windows open when driving down St. Charles Ave. or into the French Quarter anytime before 1 p.m. and after about 4 p.m. so I can catch the smells. Parts of Mid-City and the Riverbend area get the same treatment. I know the activity in the kitchens, the processes and (most of) the ingredients. No matter the echelon of the cuisine, it’s the smell of someone at work and someone else who’s going to be very happy come lunch/suppertime.

Oddly, I do not feel this way about a lot of breakfast. While I love the smells of bacon and sausage, the aroma of cooking eggs isn’t attractive to me for some reason. Good coffee smells great, but so much of it anymore is scorched or over-roasted. There is a Starbucks nearby and my nose briefly rebels, despite its tiny size. Give me the CC’s up the street, please.

Red beans and rice. Etouffee. Juan’s at 11 p.m. The Leidenheimer Bakery at 6 a.m. Camellia Grill at 8 a.m. Tujague’s brisket at 4 p.m. We can so often tell where we are and what time it is without opening our eyes or looking at a clock – just because we smell what we smell. Café du Monde at dawn or, well, anytime. Thank you, heavy-duty exhaust machinery.

What are some of your favorite food smells? What am I missing?

Dang. Now I’m hungry….

Craig Giesecke has been a broadcaster and journalist for over 30 years, including nearly two decades at the AP and UPI covering news, sports, politics, food and travel. He has been the owner of J’anita’s for five years, serving well-reviewed upscale bar food and other dishes. Comments are encouraged and welcomed.