This post brought to you by the acorn squash I just sliced. See also roasted red peppers and cilantro. I don’t have the soap thing, but it do be like a stink bug sometimes.

Lentils. May be a combo of being sick/smelling them all the time but I literally have to open all the windows when I boil them

My wife totally has the soap thing, and I must be a carrier for that gene, because I can see where the soapy flavor is coming from, but it doesn’t bug me.

For the smell/taste thing, I have the opposite. I love the smell of roasting coffee… can’t stand coffee.

Ditto unsmoked tobacco, smells amazing, cannot tolerate smoking.

Really don’t care for cabbage. My mom always said it smells like pig slop, not that I’ve ever smelled pig slop. But yeah I never liked it and I think that had something to do with it lol.

Why does pesto smell like feet yet taste so delicious?

Overly ripe papayas.

Always smell like rot. Taste like magic.

Any kind of fermented or pickled radish or daikon, smells like a fart, tastes like heaven.

Durian smells so bad, but durian milkshake is just heaven

Fish Sauce.

Love the flavor that it brings to dishes, even to uncooked sauces, but holy crap the smell.

do be like a stink bug sometimes

Seems to be certain times of the year here (US South). Sometimes we go months without a bunch that smells like them, and other times it’s every bunch for a month (and we almost always have a bunch in the fridge).

unsmoked tobacco, smells amazing

Agree completely on this. Pipe tobacco in particular always smells great (but can’t stand the smell of smoke).

Pure, concentrated cinnamon powder. Put the right amount into recipes and it’s amazing.

Yeah, came here to say this. East Asia has a whole collection of sauces based on fermented fish that taste amazing and have no offensive smell when cooked, but dear God, the smell of the stuff before it’s cooked is horrifying.

EDIT: I guess I should clarify, for anyone who hasn’t had it. It’s not so much that fish sauce itself tastes delicious alone, but it has a ton of umami flavor. Same sort of stuff you get from, say, powdered boletes mushrooms or MSG. It makes savory dishes just taste way better when you add it to them.

Pate. The smell of chicken liver is awful.

I don’t eat meat anymore, but when I did the smell of bacon frying would literally make me sick. Came very close to hurling once just from frying bacon in a pan. I still liked the bacon itself though.

Did you know KFC used to sell deep fried chicken liver in some areas? My mom was crazy for it 🫣

We call it feet sauce in my house

Probably the cheese (depending on the recipe). Parmesan has aroma compounds also found in other less desirable substances.

Vinegar is pretty universally hated a scent. Most foods wouldn’t be the same without it.

I think pig generally smells pretty bad while cooking.