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Steingarten's article on stinky food in Sept. Vogue

post #1 of 7
8/30/08 at 1:28pm
Thread Starter 
Has anyone else read this?

I was intrigued by the mention of "isonitriles" - the author tried to get ahold of some and was refused by a few companies. Apparently this compound (I'm not a scientist, sorry if 'compound' is the wrong term) smells so uniquely awful that everyone who smells it instantly vomits. Could be used as a deterrent, no?

Does anyone here have a love of stinky food? He mentioned kimchee, which I do love, and stinky cheese. But I'll pass on the maggot cheese and the Andouillette.
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post #2 of 7
8/31/08 at 7:52pm
I haven't read it but you are making me want to..
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post #3 of 7
8/31/08 at 8:45pm
Thread Starter 
Try to snag it from one of your female friends. It's the huge Sept. issue with Keira Knightley looking weird on the cover. Steingarten is a great writer, and the subject matter of the article is something I think would interest Basenoters.

And I still want to know what isonitriles are and what they're used for!
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post #4 of 7
9/10/08 at 4:46am
Thanks for the info about this. Love his stuff and would love to read the piece. Is it available online anywhere?
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post #5 of 7
10/2/08 at 7:42pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by LedByMyNose View Post

Has anyone else read this?

I was intrigued by the mention of "isonitriles" - the author tried to get ahold of some and was refused by a few companies. Apparently this compound (I'm not a scientist, sorry if 'compound' is the wrong term) smells so uniquely awful that everyone who smells it instantly vomits. Could be used as a deterrent, no?

Does anyone here have a love of stinky food? He mentioned kimchee, which I do love, and stinky cheese. But I'll pass on the maggot cheese and the Andouillette.

I read that article, and yes, it was interesting. There were some things I would have disagreed on, but I can't remember them now! I love kimchee too! I don't think it's really stinky though, but maybe that's why I like it. I also like bagoong (fermented shrimp paste) and durian.

I do not like to eat the rinds of brie though. I tried to make a pastry with brie (rind and all) in it, and it smelled like the ammonia I use to clean a toilet bowl. Ammonia-flavored pastry, folks! BLECH! I hate wasting food, but that went into the trash.

I don't think I could eat maggot cheese. Maybe in a famine. But not now.
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post #6 of 7
10/4/08 at 1:58am
Quote:
Originally Posted by LedByMyNose View Post


Does anyone here have a love of stinky food? He mentioned kimchee, which I do love, and stinky cheese. But I'll pass on the maggot cheese and the Andouillette.

I tried the Andouillete - unwittingly. When I was 11. Under knowing supervision of my mother. Yes, I was horribly mistreated.

Bottom line: she thought she shouldn't mention that I would probably not like the sausage, since that would result in me definitely not liking it. So I ordered it, and out came this grayish bulky sausage in a bowl of gravy - no greens, no potatoes, no side dishes, nothing. Not to be deterred, I tried a bite. I don't remember the exact taste (PTSS, most likely), but it wasn't pleasant. It put me off organ meat for a long, long time.
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post #7 of 7
10/4/08 at 12:06pm
Thread Starter 
Ha, my mother always used to try and trick me into eating steak and kidney pie when I was little but kidney is distinctive and it never worked. If she'd convinced me to try Andouillete she may have had a clean-up job to deal with.

And yeah, kimchee isn't really stinky is it? It's sharp and clean-tasting to me (and delicious). I'd like to try durian and have read some very interesting descriptions of doing so - most people seem to have the most difficulty getting past the smell to the actual taste.

I don't think I'd try the isonitriles, given the chance, but curiousity may get the better of me. Yikes.
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