Pondering the line between delicious and medicinal reminded me that some years ago a very peppery oil had inspired a brilliant biomedical hunch. That’s why I made a note to call Dr. Gary Beauchamp, the director of the Monell Chemical Senses Center in Philadelphia: to get an update on the chemistry of the olive oil cough.

At the 1999 international workshop on molecular and physical gastronomy, in the mist-shrouded mountain town of Erice, Sicily, the physicists Ugo and Beatrice Palma brought along oil freshly pressed from their own trees. Dr. Beauchamp tasted the oil and felt his throat burn, as did I and all the other attendees. But he was the only one who immediately thought of ibuprofen.