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When I was a kid, before the country was converted to the metric system, milk was sold in gallon jugs.
My mother would bring a fresh one home and occasionally the *milk guzzler* in the household (me) would open a new jug, stop dead in my tracks and refuse to drink it.
I'd swear it was going sour and go without milk until a new jug was in the fridge.
My mother thought I was being ridiculous because it tasted fine to her ~ until she realized that each and ever jug of milk I refused *turned* sour within 3 days and it was poured down the drain.
I have always been the *milk canary* in our household because my sense of smell and taste really IS that sensitive.
Growing older I was told my palette would peak and then become less sensitive but....somewhere along the way I'd read about sommeliers and how their taste is at it's prime from their 40s through 50s. While I remained skeptical I am now forced to accept the fact that I'm in for a long, annoying decade.
If the badly designed/located drip pan under the fridge is getting funky I can smell it about THREE WEEKS before it starts to affect the family and I need to pull the unit out of it's spot, remove the back panel and start the long process of cleaning the thing with vinigar.
If my eldest spritzes a perfume on herself behind closed doors at the other end of the house, on another floor ~ I know in about 2 seconds.
The other night I was sitting on the couch watching tv with the husband and suddenly sat up, rigid and sniffing the air like a dog. Teh Bob asked me if I was okay and I nodded...but sat uneasily because I'd smelt something chemical and floral float by and the teenagers were both out. After a moment my brain classified it and at the next commercial I bolted upstairs to my sons' bedroom.
Opening his bedroom door I saw that he was asleep and on the floor in the middle of the room was a can of Febreeze....(I didn't buy it, the teens did)
Yesterday my eldest apologized as we wandered around the fabric store, for still reeking of the roasted garlic she'd indulged in THREE DAYS earlier. I could smell it coming off her body in WAVES when she walked by me and she said her boyfriend couldn't understand what I was talking about because he couldn't smell it at all.
Did I mention I can smell myself and avoid certain foods because it turns me off and I just can't get away from my own skin??
I was reminded of this when I walked by a tree in full bloom this morning at 6 a.m., and was hit by an overpowering cloying floral fragrance. It was strong but not nearly as bad as something that I smell when I walk past another house in the opposite direction ~ an odd smell that is like a whiff of ozone but could just be the undernote of some plant's blossom that I now find irriating. Assuming the source is natural. When it's not then I'm in trouble. Heavy duty cleaners in places like schools, hospitals and public swimming pools almost bring me to my knees. When my mouth feels as though I'm sucking on iron....it's never a good thing.
Artifical fragrances trigger headaches and my nose runs like a faucet was turned on full..the daughters have learned to not spritz till they leave the building and NEVER if they are being driven someplace by myself, because I HAVE forced them to open their windows all the way in the middle of the winter. The irony is that I burn several sticks of Japanese incense a day. It's simple enough to conclude that naturally occuring ingredients/scents are better for us than the chemical soup we insist on swimming in and the growing number of people with scent sensitivities is a reflection of that fact.
I have to chuckle a bit when I consider that I rank the smell of horse manure on a breeze across a pasture or in a barn as much more pleasing than most any perfume on the market ~ I can smell the hay in it which makes it very sweet compared to that of omnivores like pigs and chickens, with their confined lifestyles and highly concentrated grain and additive laden food sources. When most people wrinkle their noses I breath deep and smile.
It's no wonder that the Japanese find Westerners rancid. We eat like pigs.
Yesterday ~ as I winced at my eldest's sour garlic scent, I was interested in the fact that she could no longer smell her stinky rose reek, but she'd be able to do so for the first two days. I wondered if she's on the same track as myself. Will her sense of smell continue to improve as she ages?
Later in the day the other teen was complaining about the BURN of salt in her organic Bran Flakes. The cereal was already low in salt but it was still too much for her. I picked up two types of whole grain cereal for her that contained NO added sodium and she is finally satisfied. I have to mention that while I cook with small amounts of salt, there is never a salt shaker on my table.
....and for breakfast I have freshly steamed rice ~ plain, every morning. Yes I do like the flavour of rice as a matter of fact. So does my son.
Speaking of which, at the same time I was purchasing the cereal, I picked up some fresh salmon and told the Japanese fish monger that I wanted it with the skin on since my son loves the grey layer (of fat) between the skin and the flesh. She stared at me in surprise before exclaiming that he has a very good sense of taste ~ JUST like the Japanese. *0__0!!!
....sorry kids. Your genetics are showing.
My mother would bring a fresh one home and occasionally the *milk guzzler* in the household (me) would open a new jug, stop dead in my tracks and refuse to drink it.
I'd swear it was going sour and go without milk until a new jug was in the fridge.
My mother thought I was being ridiculous because it tasted fine to her ~ until she realized that each and ever jug of milk I refused *turned* sour within 3 days and it was poured down the drain.
I have always been the *milk canary* in our household because my sense of smell and taste really IS that sensitive.
Growing older I was told my palette would peak and then become less sensitive but....somewhere along the way I'd read about sommeliers and how their taste is at it's prime from their 40s through 50s. While I remained skeptical I am now forced to accept the fact that I'm in for a long, annoying decade.
If the badly designed/located drip pan under the fridge is getting funky I can smell it about THREE WEEKS before it starts to affect the family and I need to pull the unit out of it's spot, remove the back panel and start the long process of cleaning the thing with vinigar.
If my eldest spritzes a perfume on herself behind closed doors at the other end of the house, on another floor ~ I know in about 2 seconds.
The other night I was sitting on the couch watching tv with the husband and suddenly sat up, rigid and sniffing the air like a dog. Teh Bob asked me if I was okay and I nodded...but sat uneasily because I'd smelt something chemical and floral float by and the teenagers were both out. After a moment my brain classified it and at the next commercial I bolted upstairs to my sons' bedroom.
Opening his bedroom door I saw that he was asleep and on the floor in the middle of the room was a can of Febreeze....(I didn't buy it, the teens did)
Yesterday my eldest apologized as we wandered around the fabric store, for still reeking of the roasted garlic she'd indulged in THREE DAYS earlier. I could smell it coming off her body in WAVES when she walked by me and she said her boyfriend couldn't understand what I was talking about because he couldn't smell it at all.
Did I mention I can smell myself and avoid certain foods because it turns me off and I just can't get away from my own skin??
I was reminded of this when I walked by a tree in full bloom this morning at 6 a.m., and was hit by an overpowering cloying floral fragrance. It was strong but not nearly as bad as something that I smell when I walk past another house in the opposite direction ~ an odd smell that is like a whiff of ozone but could just be the undernote of some plant's blossom that I now find irriating. Assuming the source is natural. When it's not then I'm in trouble. Heavy duty cleaners in places like schools, hospitals and public swimming pools almost bring me to my knees. When my mouth feels as though I'm sucking on iron....it's never a good thing.
Artifical fragrances trigger headaches and my nose runs like a faucet was turned on full..the daughters have learned to not spritz till they leave the building and NEVER if they are being driven someplace by myself, because I HAVE forced them to open their windows all the way in the middle of the winter. The irony is that I burn several sticks of Japanese incense a day. It's simple enough to conclude that naturally occuring ingredients/scents are better for us than the chemical soup we insist on swimming in and the growing number of people with scent sensitivities is a reflection of that fact.
I have to chuckle a bit when I consider that I rank the smell of horse manure on a breeze across a pasture or in a barn as much more pleasing than most any perfume on the market ~ I can smell the hay in it which makes it very sweet compared to that of omnivores like pigs and chickens, with their confined lifestyles and highly concentrated grain and additive laden food sources. When most people wrinkle their noses I breath deep and smile.
It's no wonder that the Japanese find Westerners rancid. We eat like pigs.
Yesterday ~ as I winced at my eldest's sour garlic scent, I was interested in the fact that she could no longer smell her stinky rose reek, but she'd be able to do so for the first two days. I wondered if she's on the same track as myself. Will her sense of smell continue to improve as she ages?
Later in the day the other teen was complaining about the BURN of salt in her organic Bran Flakes. The cereal was already low in salt but it was still too much for her. I picked up two types of whole grain cereal for her that contained NO added sodium and she is finally satisfied. I have to mention that while I cook with small amounts of salt, there is never a salt shaker on my table.
....and for breakfast I have freshly steamed rice ~ plain, every morning. Yes I do like the flavour of rice as a matter of fact. So does my son.
Speaking of which, at the same time I was purchasing the cereal, I picked up some fresh salmon and told the Japanese fish monger that I wanted it with the skin on since my son loves the grey layer (of fat) between the skin and the flesh. She stared at me in surprise before exclaiming that he has a very good sense of taste ~ JUST like the Japanese. *0__0!!!
....sorry kids. Your genetics are showing.
calm
But this also brings up interesting questions. Do you use/wear antiperspirant and/or deodorant? (I really hope I'm not being rude.) Most deodorants have chemicals as well as sharp scents, because their whole purpose is to mask the body scent. Antiperspirants are also strong chemicals. Most commercial brands combine the two into one product.
Also, what about lotions or soaps? Most lotions are scented, but you can also find unscented... is your skin sensitive too? I know several people who are sensitive to scents because their skin reacts to them badly.
And on a tangent: I'd probably really like to eat a few meals at your house, just to see what kind of food your family eats. (I am so going to visit tam one day, just so she and Mama-san can spoil me rotten with fabulous authentic Japanese food.) I'm American, I grew up with American foods... but I love learning about new cultures and new cuisines. Just for example, you mentioned salmon. We don't cook fish at all in our house. Shrimp, yes. Fish, no. Because... Mom really doesn't like deep fried foods (me either, it makes me feel heavy and weird afterward) and that's the only way we really know how to cook fish. But I definitely agree with the salt issue. When I was growing up, we never had a salt or pepper shaker on the table... so I just never thought to put any salt or pepper on my food after it gets to the table. Then in restaurants, I see people buying a huge plate with say... a burger and fries, then dumping half the salt shaker on the fries. They're french fries!! They already have massive amounts of salt on them! *shakes head*
Uh... ending tangent now. XD I just tend to ramble on sometimes.
For years I couldn't use soap on my face at all. I'm one of those that reacts badly....instead I used cetaphil but then my skin started to change (hormones/age) and I can use ivory again but only in the morning and before bed. On my body I use PEARS (an glycerin soap) that is pretty well the only thing that doesn't make me try to scratch my way out of my skin when I step out of the shower.
The ingredients of Pears is : glycerin, natural oils, rosemary, cedar and thyme.
As for food ~ we are so ecclectic in this household. My mother was Finnish and my father Estonian. Both came to Canada as kids. My husband was born in Yugoslavia but raised here when his family emigrated in the 60s (he was 3). My cooking is all over the map as my daughers and I are vegepreferians (I don't eat much meat because it doesn't like me) but the boys like their MEAT!
Salmon is one thing we can agree on ~ well most fish but salmon is stupidly simple to cook if you can get it. Put in on a grill pan, skin side down in the oven and broil till the top and edges are browning. The fish is mild but has a wonderful fat to it so that it doesn't dry out.
I severely limit my ingestion of fried foods as they react badly with my stomach (same with meat) but fish doesn't have to be fried. In fact that grill pan is great as I do bacon on it too and the fat runs down into the pan below. The other night we wrapped bacon around tofu and brushed them with oyster sauce and broiled them till brown and hmmm...I will have some of that meat and take my chances on the pain becuase it's just so good.
Salt, sugar ...so many of these flavorings seem to be used automatically. I used to get offended when my brother-in-law would put ketchup on my food without tasting it first....that dumbfounded me. He's much better now and I realize it was just a matter of habit and breaking it. Palattes can be retrained too...which is what is happening to my daughter in her quest for salt free cereal.
Sometimes I will use salad dressing or eat sauce on something and I do enjoy it if I can control the amount of flavour on the item. I keep seeing commercials for pizza dipping sauce and am stunned at the concept. I make my own pizza as I did tonight and adding dipping sauce to it would be OVER kill!
And before you ask:
Whole wheat ~ one half cheddar and tomato paste (for the son) & one half ~tomato paste/ red peppers/ vadalia onion/ zucchini/ goat feta and cheddar (for the eldest)
2nd pizza ~ pesto /vadalia onions, mushrooms, zucchini, goat feta and cheddar (for the rest of us)
I just realized I've snuck a second night of vegetarian food by on the husband...mwahahahaha. Last night it was tofu and vege stir fry....good thing we are off to a bbq tomorrow so he doesn't start to complain >D
Ramble away :)
Did you ever go to cooking school? Or do those recipes and different styles just come from your varied family backgrounds? And those pizzas sound soooo good (well, except for the goat feta because I've never tried goat cheese before so I couldn't tell if I would like it or not). Do you like olives (any variety)? *laugh* It's usually not a pizza at our house unless it has mushrooms and olives in some form on it. ^___^
I might actually try to cook some salmon next weekend... do you add any kind of seasoning to it while it's cooking? Or is it flavorful without the added spices?