The Taste of Smells

(I started this post a couple of weeks ago, but lost my train of thought. I know - hard to believe, huh. )

DH was fixing himself breakfast the other day and kindly offered to make me some toast while he was doing his own. I told him "No thanks. I like the smell of toast but don't like the taste of it." He looked at me for a moment. "That's an odd thing to say," he said while buttering his toast. Which got me to thinking... (always a bad sign).

I know that smell and taste are closely aligned. Anyone who has had a head cold can attest to that. When we are presented with a new food, we smell it before tasting it. At least I do. For some reason the taste of toast is disappointing to me. It doesn't somehow live up to it's odor.

I was like that with marijuana too. I love the smell of it, but it tastes horrible to me. (Hey! I grew up in the '60s! Don't shake your head at me - everyone has skeletons in their closets.) Every time I tried smoking it I threw up. I figured I must have been allergic to the THC - or something. And I've met other people who have said the same thing.

ANYWAY... the point is... how can something smell yummy but not taste yummy? On the flip side, how can something smell so ungodly foul and yet taste (to aficionados) heavenly? I've always wondered who was the first human brave enough to crack open a durian and actually eat it? (I've read that the orangutans love them too. The first human probably took that as a signal that it wouldn't kill you to eat it. But still... the smell!)

....to be continued... I hope...

(Now that Joe Pastry is posting on taste I think I'll go ahead and post this even in it's uncomplete, half-assed form. Maybe I'll remember what I was going to say.)