Food smells: Favorites? Least favored?

[Gifted Gourmet]

Next time can we split this into 2 threads?

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Sure enough, Randi! Aaaah and Eeewwwww ...

[Gifted Gourmet]

is there something in roast beef that makes one sleepy?  I believe there is something in turkey that does...any scientists out there?

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More correctly and factually:

Recent studies have associated the essential amino acid L-tryptophan, a natural sedative, to drowsiness. L-tryptophan is used in the brain's production of serotonin .....  L-tryptophan is naturally occurring in turkey, a person would have to consume large amounts of turkey on an empty stomach ... to cause the sedative effect. The most likely cause of drowsiness after a big turkey dinner is a high carbohydrate intake. Since many people eat an unusually large, multi-coursed meal at holiday time, they often associate the drowsiness they feel afterwards with turkey. The resulting feeling of lethargy is largely due to the blood rushing from the brain to the stomach to aid in the task of digesting a huge meal.

Doctor of All Things Foodly Gourmet

[FistFullaRoux]

I'm a fan of the classics - butter bubbling in a pan, garlic in olive oil, just the olive oil heating up, baking bread, cheese, etc.

Don't like (I'm keeping this to non-burnt and non-contaminated)

- I love roux, especially a dark one, but I hate the smell of it while it's cooking. It's something that I just bear with until I get through it, then I can enjoy the experience. It's pretty intense.

- Debris. Everything but the oink, overcooked, in a brown gravy. That one will chase me out of the house.

- Raw pork. Reminds me too much of the smell of a slaughterhouse. Once it's had heat applied, I'm fine.

- Black Eyed Peas. I hate everything about them, including the smell. Even the smell of the dried beans makes me want to heave.

[TheFoodTutor]

I love the smell of bread baking or anything being grilled. Yes, there are dozens of things I love to smell in the kitchen.

However, there are quite a few that don't smell good as well. My parents went through a phase where they ate many varieties of something called Budget Gourmet frozen entrees. They're very easy to make, since you just pop them in the microwave for a few minutes. After a while, I began to notice that all the entrees smelled exactly the same while cooking, whether it was chicken or beef, pasta or rice. At that point, I realized that I really didn't like them at all.

And now I don't even like the smell of anything being microwaved, for the most part. So I don't have a microwave in my home, and therefore don't have to smell anything like that.

Oh, and rotten beer smells very, very bad. A dumpster behind a bar is a terrible thing to be confronted with early in the morning. I'll never make a good garbage collector.

[WHS]

I made duck confit last night. There's a moment when the duck fat starts slowly bubbling and the duck legs start cooking and suddenly the whole house smells like a farmhouse in Dordogne...(the kitchen, not the stables).

[pingarina]

Good smells: all the usual ones, i.e., melting butter, mushrooms and scallions sauteeing in butter, wholegrain toast with butter, cakes in the oven, freshly shaved white truffles, on and on. Ooooh, I love the scent of the air that comes out of the vent in a Parisian boulangerie. Yum!

Bad smells: McDonalds, unfortunately the most popular restaurant in my neighborhood - smells like ass, alien ass. And the smell of rotten garbage in a large-scale dumpster or basement, like outside a supermarket...rotting meat, milk, moldy citrus. Heeeeave!

[jo-mel]

On the like side ---- Anything and everything --- but parsnps.

On the don't like side ------ parsnips.

[Knicke]

Hmmm...good ones...exceedingly fresh sliced cucumbers. Onions in butter (this is exceptionally common). Ripe peaches. Ripe canteloupe. Ripe pears. Most ripe fruits except bananas. Fresh dill, sage, or rosemary being chopped; I like all fresh herb smells (even cilantro), but these are my favorites.

Here's a slightly strange smell I LOVE: overripe-to-rotten apples. Hey, I know it's not exactly a food, but the cidery smell makes me think of apple orchards in autumn.

Bad ones: rotten garlic/onions. This is truly foul! Pretty much any spoiled food is bad-smelling (except for the example I give above). I like the smell of bread baking (even do it myself), but I hate the smell of a yeasty 'sponge' (but love the smell of yeasty beer; what gives?). Dried lima beans and soybeans boiling................YICK.

[zenpup]

I really was going to stick to my diet today, but after reading this I have to go bake something gooey and cinnamony...

My favorite smells are good Lancaster County PA cinnamon buns fresh from the oven, Bolognese sauce simmering, bacon , coffee, basil, the scent in my yard when I'm using my smokers, and the smell of a really good cheese shop...

I don't like the smell of green peppers frying, and while they're not quite food, I don't like it when you open the door of a restaurant and smell disinfectant, and also potpourri or scented candles on a dining table. I think some people who "don't cook" think the scent of good food is something to get rid of...

[Randi]

Every day that this occurs I think - I need to post this on that "worst smells" thread. It just happened again today, so, here goes...

My vegetarian boss does not eat much during the day. Usually her lunch consists of cup-a-soup vegetable soup. She mixes it in the kitchen area and on her way back to the office she sometimes stops by my office to discuss something-or-other while she continues to stir it up, filling my office with a positively foul odor.

Man, I hate how that stuff smells!!

And, in keeping with the thread - I adore the smells of sauted onions, garlic, bacon, cinnamon - oh ok, all the delightful smells mentioned already!

Also, even though I love shrimp - I don't love the smell of it steaming.

[chefsteban]

Oh gosh...where to start with my good smells:

First the usuals...bacon, frying potatoes, roasting chicken, garlic, rosemary, popcorn, baking bread, the "phfft" smell when you open a can of coffee, roasting turkey on thanksgiving..well almost every kitchen smell on thanksgiving....

other good smells: roasting chiles on an open fire, cooking carnitas, the sweet smells from a mexican bakery, burning mesquite wood, orange blossoms on a tree, a grilling steak, the aroma of hot dogs at a ballpark, lime zest, the smell of tortillas being cooked--both corn and flour--, an underground BBQ pit being opened up, carnitas...i know I already said that, but if you have experienced the smell you would concur , grade 1 ahi for sushi...I could go on, but damned if I'm not makeing myself hungry and covering my keyboard with drool.....

bad smells: beets.

[Chris Amirault]

Don't like (I'm keeping this to non-burnt and non-contaminated)

- I love roux, especially a dark one, but I hate the smell of it while it's cooking. It's something that I just bear with until I get through it, then I can enjoy the experience. It's pretty intense.

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Funny, but I was going to write that one of my favorite smells is the smell that onion, bell pepper, and celery make when they hit a roux.... And my moniker ain't FistFullaRoux!

[snoopy64]

Prime Rib Roast Beef roasting in the oven, filling the kitchen with aroma.

Ah, happy memories of Sunday dinner when I was a kid.

That, I think, is the key. The smell that reminds you of happy times is the one you like the best.

[elswinger]

I am a sucker for the smell of vanilla! Vanilla scented perfume was very popular when I was a kid. The first girl I ever had a crush on used to wear it. She was 19. I was 6. She was my babysitter, so it would never work. :(

[bloviatrix]

I made a potato kugel earlier in the day and the wonderful smell reminded me of this thread. Actually, it smelled so good it had to sneak a taste.

[Gifted Gourmet]

I made a potato kugel earlier in the day and the wonderful smell reminded me of this thread.  Actually, it smelled so good it had to sneak a taste.

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Potato kugel always fills the house with marvelous aromas! Noshtalgic really!

You did FedEx me the crusty edges, no??

[jschyun]

Ripe, dark red strawberries

sweet baked good of any kind

chocolate

[Raquel]

BAD STUFF: Can someone please help me with this one?

It's about CILANTRO . For as far back as I can remember, I have had an unbelievably strong aversion to Cilantro. I have tried and tried and tried to like it, or at least get used to it... but my sensitivity is so acute that I can detect a speck of it in a big bowl of soup. The smell of it makes me cringe and waves of nausea overtake my body.

I know that some people can't even taste cilantro. It's as mild as a delicate parsley or lettuce (so I've been told), but to me... it's completely overpowering. Makes it really hard to eat Mexican, Indian and East Asian food...

I have talked to a chef friend about this and he said that there is a chemical reaction that happenes in some people. Has something to do with the dark green herb plants.

He cooked for Quincy Jones once who apparently has the same problem. He hates the stuff...

I need some explanation from you food scientists out there!

[Gifted Gourmet]

It's about CILANTRO .  For as far back as I can remember, I have had an unbelievably strong aversion to Cilantro.  I have tried and tried and tried to like it, or at least get used to it...

I need some explanation from you food scientists out there!

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Not a food scientist at all but how about this:

An interesting note is that people of European descent frequently are reviled by the smell of cilantro. It has not gained in popularity in Europe as it has in many other parts of the world.

article here on cilantro

At the flowering and fruit-set stage, the plants give off a slightly acrid smell, which is probably why this herb's botanical name is derived from the Greek word for bedbug, which emits a similar odor. In mature seeds, this odor vanishes.

Some people find the unique smell and taste of fresh cilantro unpleasant, but those of this opinion are definitely in the minority because the herb's popularity has skyrocketed in recent years.

Mother Earth News article

Many of the herb books I consulted were less than flattering when talking about cilantro and its seed, coriander. Calling the leaves (cilantro) soapy tasting, they went on to say that the immature seeds had a most unpleasant odor, "like bed bugs," one text even comparing it to "burned rubber

Sally's Place article

[zilla369]

Too many good smells to name.

Really bad: lobster shells being roasted for stock. ICK.

[MarketStEl]

Onions and garlic cooking are some of my favorites, or any meat slow-braising. 

The perfume of onion confit cooking all day in the crock pot is enough to make me want to make it even if I already have a full bowl in the fridge.

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Is there an onion confit recipe or thread floating around here? (I've already read the one on duck.) I've got this Crock-Pot sitting on my counter saying, Feed me...

As for smells, nothing beats bread baking. Nothing. I was surprised to hear that it's considered a pollutant in Southern California.

But the smell of cooking onions does come close. I also like the smell of anything with tomatoes and basil simmering--or maybe it's my anticipation of how it will taste that drives my estimation of the smell.

As for smells I detest: Limburger cheese and chitlins cooking tie for top dishonor.

[bloviatrix]

Is there an onion confit recipe or thread floating around here?  (I've already read the one on duck.)  I've got this Crock-Pot sitting on my counter saying, Feed me...

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Your crock-pot is about to become very happy....

onion confit thread.

[Raquel]

Thanks for all the Cilantro info, Melissa!

Very interesting and helpful...

An interesting note is that people of European descent frequently are reviled by the smell of cilantro. It has not gained in popularity in Europe as it has in many other parts of the world.

Well, I don't know how much this applies to me... I do have a little bit of French and English, but for the most part you could call me Asian.

Many of the herb books I consulted were less than flattering when talking about cilantro and its seed, coriander. Calling the leaves (cilantro) soapy tasting, they went on to say that the immature seeds had a most unpleasant odor, "like bed bugs," one text even comparing it to "burned rubber

I've heard before that Cilantro is "soapy" tasting to some people. It's nothing like soap to me. It's more of a pervasive effect. It completely fills my senses with a sickening feeling. Isn't that just sad?!?! And I want to love that darn herb so badly...

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[jamesaru]

Not sure if anyone already mentioned this but one of my favorite smells is BBQ sauce as it's caramelizing. Right after you take that chicken off the grill and the sauce as been cooked a bit is the best smell.

I don't like the smell of ketchup. Or vinegar.

-james

[Gifted Gourmet]

Isn't that just sad?!?!  And I want to love that darn herb so badly...

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Be of good cheer, Raquel, there are others to choose from. In fact, some 57 herbs, 16 mints, 17 onion-type herbs, 20 sages, and 17 thymes! Actually, the Brooklyn Botanic Garden Handbook on Herbs lists 73 different types of herbs and they fit into one or more classifications according to use -- culinary, aromatic, ornamental, and medicinal.

Happy herbal times ahead! One herb down, 72 more to go ..