My most favorite food smell in the world, hands down, is the heavenly aroma of my mother's pumpkin bread fresh out of the oven. If I could bottle that scent I would never be sad or stressed out.

You're right on with the chocolate chip cookies, rosemary, and bacon. I would say pizza is high on my list, but it probably just combines your tomato sauce and cheese.

Coffee is on my list too. The last two places on my list probably belong to lemon and barbeque sauce.

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i would have to add to the list:

1) fresh bread baking in the oven
2) although it is not really food, but related to food - i LOVE the smell of tomato plants as i am watering them on a hot sunny morning.

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buttercup squash, sprinkled with cinnamon and nutmeg, roasting in the oven... mmmmmmmmmmm

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For me, it must be my Mom's macaroni and cheese casserole, fresh from the oven. I can smell the cooked pasta and the gooey (1 lb+ of) cheese. Also, fresh pumpkin pie and fresh, cloudy apple cider.

Funny how all of these are fall smells.

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1. Bacon. although not the best smell on my list, it holds the most memories after waking up so many times in my life to this smell.

2. Ginger. thai foods involving lots of fresh ginger were staples in my house while growing up.

3. mango. by far my favorite fruit (i still call it a pineapple-peach hybrid) and one i ate regularly off trees in tahiti. (has anybody else had/does anybody else like pickled unripe mango?)

4. orange/citrus. great smell, except i do eat lots of oranges and drink lots of OJ. as for memories? half-time at middle school soccer games.

5. sea salt. what can i say i've spent alot of my life by the beach and that salty scented breeze gets me every time.

6. BASIL! Homegrown of course, and preferably smelled whilst preparing either pesto or a tomato mozzarella salad.

7. Hot Chocolate (ovaltine?) - fond memories of winter nights by the fireplace and in france and tahiti it was hot chocolate and a french baguette w/ butter/peanut butter to dip. mmmm.

8. apple pie - moms specialty and always a welcome scent to come home to

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1. Baking Bread
2. Salty Sea air (ok, it's not a food, but close enough)
3. Coffee
4. Another poster nailed it -- that pungent "still in the earth" smell of a warm tomato plant
5. Baking casseroles of most forms, lasagne mostly
6. Pancakes on a grill
7. Bacon, but only in a restaurant
8. The smell of the wood chips or charcoal in your grill outside

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Chrissy, I don't think it's funny that your smells are all from fall; it's my favorite season, foodwise and all! However, the smell of fresh strawberries or peaches is one of my favorite things about summer. I also love the smell of roasted garlic.

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Oh, no...nobody mentioned the Thanksgiving turkey aroma filling the air with mouth-watering memories.

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The smell of my girlfriend all dolled up is the best smell yet.

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A freshly-sliced maui onion on a hot grill. There is no finer food scent, hands down.

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The best for me is vanilla. Also, cookie dough (especially the butter/sugar phase), graham cracker crusts, yeast breads, and garlic.

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Good parmesan - I can understand. However once I read somewhere that the crappy grated (kraft) parmesan is made with the same type of acid that is found in the stomach... the reason why I never liked it became abundantly clear. "Fake" processed parmesan smells like vomit to me. I have never understood how anyone can eat it. Has anyone else ever heard the same thing?

Don't worry - I still love real parmesan.

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Warzy-- doesn't sound super weird to me, because canned soup smells like rotten meat to me. And even if it's vegetable. Go figure. As far as heavenly smells, grilled meat, and roasting chickens. Can't beat that Roli Roti truck.

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The smell of palmolive dish soap.

This odor brings me back to the kitchen of my youth. My mom did the dishes with this soap. When I smell palmolive, its like being 5 all over again. because of this, I too use this dish soap.

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Cinnamon, Toast, and Coffee....mmhmmm

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My mother has her own baking business, so those smells always remind me of her... waking up the smell of fresh muffins or sticky buns. Also, I know it's not food, but the smell of Murphy's Oil Soap always reminds me of spring and clean!

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How about garlic & shallots simmering in a wok. -- the blank slate for some Thai curry or noodle dish.

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for the record -- the show MASH had lots of great ideas -- but they took this one from Marcel Proust and his novel Remembrance of Things Past. it was the smell of a teacake called a madeline that unlocked memories for him.

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the smell of BBQ always reminds me of the summer and the smell of a fireplace, reminds me of winter...
and there is a distinct smell between nyc and sf...if you've lived in both coasts, youll know what i'm talking about...

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I have to say I love to eat apples and banana

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