16. Medieval Spices, Grey Goose, and the History of Taste

How context shapes the experience, meaning, and value of drugs

Dear Readers,

Dawn is breaking here in Cincinnati. I’m outside watching my dog sniff the edge of the porch relentlessly. Something seems to be either under there or to have passed through overnight, leaving a fascinating scent. Rodent? Skunk? Opossum? Maybe it’s just good old-fashioned urine. Dogs can never get enough of that smell. Tells a whole story every time.

Sometimes I envy my dog’s ability to pick up scents in the air. One day last week her nose clearly detected the presence of a squirrel behind her in the yard. The squirrel had already noticed her and was frozen in its tracks. But then my dog started sniffing, her nose inching slowly upward, then gradually craning around backwards and boom—a fucking squirrel!!! Can you believe it!?!? So exciting!

Anyway, if you didn’t know already, the history of odors is a thing. So is the closely related history of “taste,” and I don’t mean like having good “taste” in music or art, I mean like actually “tasting” food. Though having “good taste…