So as you may know, loss of taste and smell is a pretty common side effect of a covid infection. Dave managed to escape its clutches, but both Eli and I got hit with it.

Thankfully it only lasted a couple of days for Eli. He still can’t smell much, but he says he can taste again. So far I am still dealing with it though. I’m sure it’s different for everybody, but I thought I would share my experience in what it’s been like.

It would be incorrect to say I can’t taste anything at all. I can definitely taste sweet. Not a flavor per se, but sweetness itself. It’s just like taking a spoonful of straight sugar if I’m eating anything that is vaguely sweet in nature. Depending on the level of sweetness, it’s not necessarily overwhelming, but it’s all I can taste.

I can also taste spicy. Although I’m not sure you could call that a taste so much as a sensation. It still has no flavor, it’s just that tingling, burning feeling. Though the intensity of spiciness is definitely less than it would normally be. I can tell that because before I lost my taste we had some Indian food that was pretty spicy. I had leftovers of it today, and while I can still taste that it is spicy, it isn’t nearly so much so. It’s actually quite pleasant in that it is something vaguely related to a taste that I otherwise don’t have.

I can kind of taste salty. Not nearly as much as sweet or spicy, but given something salty enough I can get a hint of it. Again, it’s subtle so as to not be unpleasant, in fact, a bit welcome because, again, it is something vaguely flavor like.

The absolute best thing is intensely flavored tomato things, like ketchup or sun-dried tomatoes. I wouldn’t be able to tell you what the food was if you made me close my eyes and eat it, but it actually is a intense flavor of some variety. My guess is it has to do with the acidity, and that’s what I’m tasting. I guess I may have to start putting ketchup and hot sauce on everything for the time being, lol!

Partially because of the seeming random success of tomatoes, I keep experimenting with eating things to see if I get anything out of them. So far I haven’t really found anything which is pretty frustrating. I mean seriously, I made the joke but I can’t eat ketchup on everything. Pretty much everything tastes like eating water. So texture’s become very important. I mean I’ve always been a texture eater but it’s become more important than ever. I may not be able to taste a potato chip, but at least it’s crunchy!

I haven’t tried to cook at all since the loss of taste started and I’m definitely a little worried about that. I cook by taste, not recipes, so this should be interesting. I still have a “feel” for what works so hopefully we’ll be okay, but I won’t know until the guys actually try and eat it.

So wish us luck! 🍀