And dog feet smell like corn chips. That is a known, indisputable fact.
My dog's toes smell like cheese to me, I call them his 'cheesy toe beans'. My partner can't really smell it, I'll have to ask him tonight to compare them to tortilla chips and see what he thinks.
In the UK we have crisps called skips that are "prawn cocktail " flavour... they have a sour, ketchupy, fishy kind of smell that fills a room
*gags*
Prawn cocktail crisps taste and smell very distinct to me: nothing like actual seafood, or ketchup, just a strong artificial 'fake prawn' flavour I only find in crisps. It's like that fake bacon taste, or artificial strawberry flavour, or the legendary 'blue raspberry': all these flavours are distinct, chemical-tasting, wonderful memories. They taste like sugar and bright blues or reds. They don't taste a jot like something natural, but they're still powerful and evocative.
Strawberries, for me, are generally lovely and sweet but the freshness level creates a big difference. Off-season strawberries are watery, fresh strawberries from the local farm in-reason are very sweet and strong, and the strawberries in my back garden are a whole range of levels depending on when I decided to pick them. I tend to pick them as they ripen, so I get a lot of variety.
The path I walk my dog on is covered in brambles, a Scottish name for blackberry bushes. On the summer nights, they're sharp and sweet in equal measures. But they never taste as sweet and juicy as when I'm tired and it's getting dark and I'm picking them in the pouring rain to get me through the hour-long dog walk.
Ullapool harbour, a small port in the remote and windy north, smells like fish and
really strong sea-salt. It's overpowering, and always catches me off-guard because it's not a fishing harbour, it's all about people carrying. It smells like how you imagine grey seals smell, wet and fishy and wild, and you'll see plenty of those bobbing in the water, fishing in the wake of the ferries. It also smells powerfully of the ferry boats that use it, this heavy smell in the air of rain-soaked metal ships and their exhaust fumes.
Sambuca tastes like liquorice and
ohgodI'mgagginginstantly because after one night of Sambuca and Baileys, Sambuca always tastes like regret and vomit. I don't do Sambuca shots, now, because a single shot means I need to go somewhere cold and windy and contemplate the mistakes of my teenage years until the nausea goes away.
A clean ferret smells warm and musky and cuddly. It's a strong masculine scent (but it's far more pleasant and balanced in the females) like the aftershave dad would put on before heading to an important work meeting.
Their litter has the cat-litter problem: it's too much, acrid and sharp, biting the back of your nose. You want to lock it away in a room. Preferably a room with all the windows open.
Musty laundry is an odd one. It smells 'foosty', is the way I always describe it, and that's a very Scottish concept that's hard to put into other words: it's when something is dusty or musty, forgotten, either a little too damp or a little bit mouldy. It's not a word you use for deliberate mess, just things forgotten, like bread left too long in its bag on the counter or a very old wool coat in a closed-down charity shop.
Truthfully, I have a bad nose and a bad palette, so a lot of my senses of smell are more about memories and feelings. I can tell you that rooibos vanilla smells like sponge cake and home baking, but really it
feels like warmth and comfort on a cold autumn night, when I'm trying to warm my hands without putting the central heating on. It tastes like knowing it's too late to have a sweet, but needing that comfort.
Camomile & spiced apple tastes like exciting phonecalls and nervously drumming my feet on the floor, clutching the mug like a comfort blanket. Gingerbread green tea feels like my buddy in England looking out for me and cheering me on, because it's her favourite drink. Homemade frappucino iced coffees feels like a gym session done well and my partner getting me a cold drink while I flop on the couch, and it tastes like coffee with all the sharp bitterness sanded away. It tastes like me learning, slowly, that coffee is an alright drink and
oh, so that's why people like it.
...This thread is really fun, y'know that? It's so enjoyable just thinking about all these things.
