What Are the Factors That Affect Our Sense of Taste and Smell?

[hypatia]

I don't eat fish, I have fish as pets. So to me it would be like eating my dog.

 

[Huckleberry]

I thought pets were emergency food that follows you and doesn't need to be refrigerated to be kept fresh. That's why cats are bad pets. They aren't good at being there when you need them, and they are a bit stringy.

 

[Cyrus]

Id eat cat or dog if it were served to me at a restaurant.

I've eaten: Cow, snail, calf, pig, chicken, duck, fish, fish eggs, bird eggs, eel, lamb, frog legs. I need to add more to the list.

I want to try shark, snake, and some more types of fish. I am having a hard time thinking of new kinds of meat right now. I think you can get kangaroo meat down under. Id eat that too.

 

[Beeza]

Entire cows and sometimes small children.

*edit* Damnit i thought it said what food do you eat.

 

[lisab]

I ate smoked rattlesnake. It was really, really fishy.

 

[Evo]

I want to try shark,

Shark is like swordfish, IIRC, I had some years ago. I love all seafood.

 

[Werg22]

I've eaten: Cow, snail, calf, pig, chicken, duck, fish, fish eggs, bird eggs, eel, lamb, frog legs. I need to add more to the list.

No offense, but that list is pretty mundane. How about a trip to China, where you can eat anything from roaches to human placenta?

 

[Huckleberry]

No offense, but that list is pretty mundane. How about a trip to China, where you can eat anything from roaches to human placenta?

I wouldn't imagine those things would be too difficult to get anywhere in the world.

 

[P4PPY]

I will eat just about anything on the planet... including dog food and tree bark, but what I can't eat is a combination of hard and soft foods.

I can eat an onion raw, and whole... but I can't eat onions sliced and diced on a burger. Same goes for pickles.

It's a texture thing. I've ran into a couple other people who were the same way too.

If my teeth are chewing into something soft and chewing then all of a sudden they hit a pickle or onion... or anything significantly harder than the majority... I feel like I'm biting into a fingernail, a bone, or in Wendy's case... a finger. I instantly gag... and can't swallow. (But give me the toe by itself, and I'd probably dip it in mayo and down it!)

I have no problem with slapping ruffles chips on a burger though either... I just can't stand the little nib let's of crunchies in my food.

Been that way since I was a wee tyke too. My mum used to make spaghetti a lot, and found out the hard way she can't put whole tomatoes in the sauce... and no onions either. I'd heave all over the floor!

 

[Jimmy Snyder]

I'm looking forward to eating a California Condor. I've heard the taste is a cross between Northern Spotted Owl and Whooping Crane, and I want to verify for myself.

 

[Cyrus]

No offense, but that list is pretty mundane. How about a trip to China, where you can eat anything from roaches to human placenta?

I agree, but I don't like spicy food! I am not doing the human placenta tom cruise thing though.

 

[turbo]

I have a friend who loves spaghetti, and he refuses to eat macaroni. Go figure.

 

[Evo]

I will eat just about anything on the planet... including dog food and tree bark, but what I can't eat is a combination of hard and soft foods.

That is so weird. Not saying you're weird, just that I can't imagine it.

I actually enjoy a variety of different textures at the same time. Like in a dip that has bits of crunchy things in it. I love the little surprise crunches in what is a creamy base.

 

[turbo]

That is so weird. Not saying you're weird, just that I can't imagine it.

I actually enjoy a variety of different textures at the same time. Like in a dip that has bits of crunchy things in it. I love the little surprise crunches in what is a creamy base.

Ditto! My jalapeno poppers are sliced in half lengthwise, filled with cream cheese and crunchy bacon, topped with shredded Monterey Jack and browned on the grill. The combination of textures is part of the treat. Fleshy peppers, soft cheese, gooier cheese and crunchy bits of bacon.

 

[tribdog]

You want to know gross? I've eaten huckleberry.

 

[turbo]

You want to know gross? I've eaten huckleberry.

He never mentioned it, now you had to let the cat out of the bag.

 

[P4PPY]

That is so weird. Not saying you're weird, just that I can't imagine it.

I actually enjoy a variety of different textures at the same time. Like in a dip that has bits of crunchy things in it. I love the little surprise crunches in what is a creamy base.

I spent a lot of time in the military, and doing a lot of survival training. I was trying to bring both sides of the extreme into my example... and I think I may have gone to far. :)

Dog food - 10 years old and my brother and I thought it was cool to eat, "Scooby Snacks".
Tree bark - 30 years old and doing cold weather training in Alaska... Tree bark is actually enjoyable to gnaw on. Kinda like Jerky :)

Edit: Forgot to mention... "Crunch IceCream"... OMG... it's like little pieces of love crunching in my mouth! ok.. done :P

 

[scorpa]

Ditto! My jalapeno poppers are sliced in half lengthwise, filled with cream cheese and crunchy bacon, topped with shredded Monterey Jack and browned on the grill. The combination of textures is part of the treat. Fleshy peppers, soft cheese, gooier cheese and crunchy bits of bacon.

Those sound SO GOOD!

 

[turbo]

Those sound SO GOOD!

Oh, yeah! When a bunch of people come over, I try to find out how many I should cook. I take their responses and double it, and never have left-overs. Even people who say they won't eat any because they don't like hot food generally try them after they see others digging in, and often, they eat as many as the rest of us. Jalapenos are really not as hot as many people think, especially when they are combined with dairy products. The smell of a big pan of those poppers coming off the grill is heaven.

 

[Jimmy Snyder]

My wife is broiling a Bison steak even now. I'll let you know how it was.

 

[Moonbear]

turbo's jalapeno popper recipe IS good! Actually, it's better than good...it's fantastic! I made them a few times when I could get decent looking jalapenos at the store (the only trouble is the heat is really unpredictable in the store bought ones...the first time I made them, they were disappointingly mild, so the next time I left some of the membranes and seeds mixed into heat them up, and my lips were burning on the first one).

 

[Jimmy Snyder]

My wife is broiling a Bison steak even now. I'll let you know how it was.

Tough as shoe leather. Don't kill that Bison again.

 

[turbo]

turbo's jalapeno popper recipe IS good! Actually, it's better than good...it's fantastic! I made them a few times when I could get decent looking jalapenos at the store (the only trouble is the heat is really unpredictable in the store bought ones...the first time I made them, they were disappointingly mild, so the next time I left some of the membranes and seeds mixed into heat them up, and my lips were burning on the first one).

That's why I like using my home-grown jalapenos. They are reliably hot - hotter than the ones at the supermarket. If I've got some "delicate" guests, I'll clean out the seeds and placenta from a portion of the chilis, and set those poppers off to one side of the pan. I grill them using a large perforated pizza pan to keep them from sticking to the grill.

 

[lisab]

That's why I like using my home-grown jalapenos. They are reliably hot - hotter than the ones at the supermarket. If I've got some "delicate" guests, I'll clean out the seeds and placenta from a portion of the chilis, and set those poppers off to one side of the pan. I grill them using a large perforated pizza pan to keep them from sticking to the grill.

OMG...all this time I didn't know peppers had placentas... ! I've been eating them all along...urg!

 

[turbo]

OMG...all this time I didn't know peppers had placentas... ! I've been eating them all along...urg!

That's the pale membrane on which the seeds develop. They can be pretty darned hot. I leave them and the seeds in my peppers for every dish, unless I've got some reason to tame them (like tenderfoot guests).

 

[Evo]

OMG...all this time I didn't know peppers had placentas... ! I've been eating them all along...urg!

Sometimes, it's better not to know.

I've been making the same type of stuffed jalapenos for about 30 years. I have several different stuffings including shrimp and crab stuffed ones. I also stuff the canned ones, the only canned ones I'll use are from Mexico and have bay leaf and garlic in them. The problem is that they are almost impossible to find in the states. The same company also sells canned stuffed jalapenos, but they're stuffed with tuna, good, but a unique flavor.

 

[glondor]

Liver yeccccch taste and texture. Brussel sprouts are on the list as well. Not too fond of fishy fish, tuna and swordfish are ok. Say no to shellfish. Oh yeah and beets.

 

[turbo]

Ooh, you just gave me an idea! Jalapeno poppers stuffed with chicken livers and crispy bacon, and topped with Monterey Jack, browned on the grill. I'll have to wrangle a deal on chicken/turkey livers to give this a shot. When my wife and I lived in Bangor shortly after our marriage, we went to Veazie Packing every weekend to buy chicken livers and gizzards and thighs. Their prices were great, because they had a huge local market for wings, drumsticks, breast-meat (lots of restaurants/bars in college towns) and we got to get some of the best chicken parts for pennies on the dollar.

 

[Evo]

Ooh, you just gave me an idea! Jalapeno poppers stuffed with chicken livers and crispy bacon, and topped with Monterey Jack, browned on the grill.

OMG! Where is that bowing smiley?

That sounds so good, I will start driving now to get there in time to eat those!

 

[Mk]

I can eat anything.

Except undercooked pancakes that still taste half like flour,

and hummus is disgusting.

 

[Kurdt]

I can't eat liver or kidney. I once had a steak and kidney pie that I thought was a steak pie. It just tastes like someone has had a wee in your pie.

Just remembered I don't like italian cheese sauces for pasta, talking of flour.

 

[turbo]

OMG! Where is that bowing smiley?

That sounds so good, I will start driving now to get there in time to eat those!

I am going to get the ingredients for these as soon as my wife can get back on her feet and hit the stores. We have a year's worth of frozen/canned foods laid up (at a minimum) and I'm doing all the cooking for at least a month while she recovers from foot surgery, but I have GOT to make these rascals as soon as I can.

What's wrong with Bobby Flay? Can't he come up with stuff like this? Just a little interplay on a food-related thread, and already, I think I've got something irresistible for an appetizer. It will be lower-fat than the popper with cream cheese and bacon, higher in protein, and certainly better in flavor. I can tweak this if necessary, but the basic recipe sounds killer with maybe tiny jigs and jags.

 

[Evo]

I feel so sorry for those that can't tolerate certain textures or flavors. I completely understand that they can't help having these objections. It is just sad (to me) that they can't enjoy such a broad spectrum of flavors and textures. But, of course) to them it is avoiding objectionable things, so to them having a limited choice isn't bad.

Just like I can't eat mangoes, I am sure I am missing out on something other people consider delectable. I wish I could experience that, but I can't.

 

[Cyrus]

I feel so sorry for those that can't tolerate certain textures or flavors. I completely understand that they can't help having these objections. It is just sad (to me) that they can't enjoy such a broad spectrum of flavors and textures. But, of course) to them it is avoiding objectionable things, so to them having a limited choice isn't bad.

Just like I can't eat mangoes, I am sure I am missing out on something other people consider delectable. I wish I could experience that, but I can't.

YES ME TOO! I don't know why, but when I was younger it would make me gag just by the taste. For some reason, I can probably eat it now. But growing up, no way. It would just make me want to vomit instantly. I don't know why, it just would. Even the smell of it was nasty to me. I did not think it smelled bad, it just made me want to gag.

 

[DaveC426913]

Just like I can't eat mangoes, I am sure I am missing out on something other people consider delectable. I wish I could experience that, but I can't.

you are to mangoes as I am to coconut milk. It's just . . the wrong place for such a taste.

 

[Evo]

you are to mangoes as I am to coconut milk. It's just . . the wrong place for such a taste.

I can't stand coconut milk in food either. Almond Joy bars, ok, anything else, not ok.

I wonder if it is more genetic than cultural, since I have no predisposed cultural biases against these foods, but have unknowingly and randomly eaten these things and had the same reactions all times.

 

[Huckleberry]

You want to know gross? I've eaten huckleberry.

Amazing how fast food threads grow! I wonder why? Am I beautiful?

 

[Math Is Hard]

Amazing how fast food threads grow! I wonder why? Am I beautiful?

You are delicious.

 

[Huckleberry]

You are delicious.

I try so hard to be blue and tart, but you say the sweetest things. You make me blush and ruin my complexion.

Huckleberries hold a place in archaic English slang. The tiny size of the berries led to their frequent use as a way of referring to something small, often in an affectionate way. The phrase "a huckleberry over my persimmon" was used to mean "a bit beyond my abilities". "I'm your huckleberry" is a way of saying that one is just the right person for a given job,[1] which was used by the character Doc Holliday in the movie Tombstone. The Huckleberry Railroad is a heritage train located in Flint, Michigan. It ran so slowly that it was said a person could jump off the train, pick huckleberries and jump back on the train with minimum effort. [2]

 

[lisab]

I can't stand coconut milk in food either. Almond Joy bars, ok, anything else, not ok.

I wonder if it is more genetic than cultural, since I have no predisposed cultural biases against these foods, but have unknowingly and randomly eaten these things and had the same reactions all times.

What about cconut milk in Thai food? It's widely used, in combination with cilantro, peanuts and lime. What a non-Western combination of flavors, and absolutely, unexpectedly delicious!

 

[K.J.Healey]

I despise the taste of cilantro.
I cannot stand the texture of cottage cheese.
And I'm queasy about eating the internal organs of any animal. Though liver isn't that bad.
There is also something about Papaya that makes me hate it. But Mangoes are ok.

Psychological:
I have trouble drinking Orange Juice since drinking a little more than a half gallon of it as a 5yr old. I threw up everywhere and really killed my stomach. The taste of it makes my stomach acid boil.

I cannot stand the smell of watermelon. Worked at ABC Warehouse and they gave away watermelons with appliance purchases. As a stockboy at the time I was required to, by hand, dispose of the ones at the bottom of the pallet that happened to turn brown, black and white. I lifted a green one up but my hand sunk into the bottom of it where it was black and white with sick decay. No watermelon for me. The smell triggers.OH! and the texture of Squash with brown sugar. BLEH!

 

[binzing]

If its already been said, kill me.
Lutefisk

 

[jim mcnamara]

[sortof science]
Had a nutritionist colleague . His view on likes/dislikes in food bolied down to a largely biological one. The airborne molecules that our olfactory plates find "matches" for and we can detect vary among people. This affects how we perceive and taste foods.
There is also the 'what I ate as a kid' thing, too.

Example: among other things melons have polyalcohols, and some complex aromatic oils.
These contribute a lot to our smelling these foods. Depending on which combinations of these compounds you perceive, you might hate or love cantelope, be blah about watermelon, or throwup at the sight of cucumbers.

A lot smells we perceive as bad are acids - butyric acid is "bad foot smell", some are ammonia-related bases like the bacterial catlysis products of trietylamine in fish - rotten fish odor, some are thiols or sulfides. We can detect these in minute amount - hydrogen sulfide in 1 part per billion for example. Rancid butter is rancid in a large part because of the presence butryric acid.
[/sortof science]

Anyway, if for example, you could not perceive butyric acid, you could easily eat butter that was going bad. I've eaten going-bad butter. It was okay, but kinda piquant.

Anyhow - I can smell virtually nothing. If you pulverize an ounce of rosemary or garlic I can smell it. Sorta. I can also sort of smell smoke - which is good.

Guess what? Nobody in our family uses me as the taste test guinea pig. I eat things by accident that make other people puke. And they do not faze me at all. I've learned not to eat green fuzzy things from the fridge. Dried out pizza is pretty good, chewy though.
Dry-ish bacon is okay if you fry it first. Dry crumbly sour cream, with the blue fuzz removed is also good. Kinda piquant, too.

I don't really like salty foods, but I eat them just fine.

The flip side of this is I do not seem to get dyspepsia or problems in the posterior end of the alimentary canal either. I can clean up vomit or decaying animal carcasses or pet droopings with zero problems. You do not want me as your personal chef, however.

 

[jim mcnamara]

PS: green eggs and ham - I will eat them Sam I Am. Call me jimIam.

 

[lisab]

[sortof science]
Had a nutritionist colleague . His view on likes/dislikes in food bolied down to a largely biological one. The airborne molecules that our olfactory plates find "matches" for and we can detect vary among people. This affects how we perceive and taste foods.
There is also the 'what I ate as a kid' thing, too.

Example: among other things melons have polyalcohols, and some complex aromatic oils.
These contribute a lot to our smelling these foods. Depending on which combinations of these compounds you perceive, you might hate or love cantelope, be blah about watermelon, or throwup at the sight of cucumbers.

A lot smells we perceive as bad are acids - butyric acid is "bad foot smell", some are ammonia-related bases like the bacterial catlysis products of trietylamine in fish - rotten fish odor, some are thiols or sulfides. We can detect these in minute amount - hydrogen sulfide in 1 part per billion for example. Rancid butter is rancid in a large part because of the presence butryric acid.
[/sortof science]

Anyway, if for example, you could not perceive butyric acid, you could easily eat butter that was going bad. I've eaten going-bad butter. It was okay, but kinda piquant.

Anyhow - I can smell virtually nothing. If you pulverize an ounce of rosemary or garlic I can smell it. Sorta. I can also sort of smell smoke - which is good.

Guess what? Nobody in our family uses me as the taste test guinea pig. I eat things by accident that make other people puke. And they do not faze me at all. I've learned not to eat green fuzzy things from the fridge. Dried out pizza is pretty good, chewy though.
Dry-ish bacon is okay if you fry it first. Dry crumbly sour cream, with the blue fuzz removed is also good. Kinda piquant, too.

I don't really like salty foods, but I eat them just fine.

The flip side of this is I do not seem to get dyspepsia or problems in the posterior end of the alimentary canal either. I can clean up vomit or decaying animal carcasses or pet droopings with zero problems. You do not want me as your personal chef, however.

Have you always been this way? Is it genetic, or aging, or a chemical exposure?

I've had some nasty run-ins with solvents that have muted my sense of smell temporarily, but I know chemists who have obliterated their sense of smell permanently with lab mishaps.