Name that smell!

I'm not sure why, but Taiwan is smellier than other Asian countries I've visited. Perhaps it's just the prevalence of food vendors. Or maybe it's poor restaurant ventilation. But, whenever I go outside I am surrounded by food smells, and when I come home - even if I haven't stopped anywhere to eat - my clothes and hair smell like food.

http://taipei543.com/2011/12/08/7-reasons-why-we-love-7-eleven-in-taiwan/

One of the stinkiest places you can go is a 7-11 store. They have these hot food stations in the center of every store. Customers grab "to go" boxes and fill them up with whatever it is that is floating in the murky waters. The smell is kind of fishy, kind of greasy, and kind of savory.

They also have big boiling pots full of eggs. I think they are called Tea Eggs. Below is a picture I stole from a blog:

http://www.thedailychefblog.com/?p=1601

They are all brown and cracked, and the water they are floating in looks absolutely disgusting. Yes, I realize it's probably just tea, but I can't get over the visual.

As a Westerner, I just don't see this sort of thing and think "Yum, I gotta get me some of those!"

Still, from a food hygiene perspective, I guess it's better to have one pot of eggs rather than a vat of mystery food all mixed together.

I haven't been to a night market yet, but I understand that the smell of stinky tofu is unmistakable and somewhat stomach-turning. I think I'll wait a bit before embarking on that adventure in smell.

Anyway, the point is, my nose is in training. I can't tell the difference between the smells - are they good? are they bad? is it meat? or vegetable? or dough? I guess I won't know until I actually add taste to the equation. Smell can only tell you so much. You just have to put food in your mouth to connect the smell to the receptors in your brain that tell you whether something is good or not.