Earlier this year, when culinary consultant and chronicler Saee Koranne-Khandekar experienced trouble with tasting what she cooked, she assumed that it was another bout of sinusitis. It is when she got herself tested for Covid-19, and tested positive, that she realised that unlike the usual nasal congestion she experienced, this time, the palate deprivation was far more intense. She couldn’t tell sweaty socks from a fragrant flower. The anxiety of possibly never being able to smell or taste again was mortifying for the Mumbai resident, who enjoys a loyal following of home chefs and food enthusiasts who look to her for authentic data and recipes from Maharashtrian cuisine. “This is pretty much my bread and butter. To lose these faculties was devastating. I had a meltdown.” 

At the time, her family, including three children and husband had contracted the virus. “I had to continue cooking for the home. And to do that without being able to smell was challenging,” she recounts.