the conflicting results of food aromas

[kareina]

One of our housemates just did something in the kitchen. The whole house now smells of onion rings--those crunchy, fatty, breaded/battered junk food that I can remember happily devouring as a child, *even though I didn't like onions*!(Because, really, when eating breaded or battered deep fried foods, does it really matter much what is inside that shell?) It is funny the conflicting sensations which arise in me now in response to that smell. On the one hand there is a (fortunately small) impulse to go forth and eat something deep-fried and enjoy the array of textures as my teeth break through the hard crust into the soft inner portion, and feel the pleasant warmth of the food fresh from the boiling oil. But on the other hand, the smell in the air (which could have been caused by any number of things; I can't actually see into the kitchen from where I sit, so I don't know what he's made) has caused the light, healthy lunch (homemade pizza crust with a topping of tomato paste, fresh spinach and a hint of fetta cheese) I had an hour ago to sit heavily in my stomach, making me *feel* as though I have eaten said onion rings, and far more of them than I should have had!

It is funny how, in recent years, any time I am some place where I'm offered the sorts of junk food I lived on as a child (fried foods, doritoes, whatever)if I accept, even if it tastes good at the time, I am soon left with a very unpleasant feeling in my tum and a lingering whole-body feeling of ick and lastititude. I seem to have lost the tolerance I once had for junk food, having weaned myself, a little at a time, starting from the first time I had to pay for my own groceries and discovered that it is cheaper to by healthy foods (especially grains) in bulk than to buy pre-packaged junk. It has been many, many years since I've purchased junk food, and with the reactions I'm now getting even when I *don't* actually eat it, but am simply smelling it, I suspect that it will be even easier to resist the next time someone offers me some...

Comments

[darttn.livejournal.com]

You make it sound as though the only thing you ate as a child was junk food. Not so!
Love you
Mom

[kareina.livejournal.com]

Perhaps not, but a high percentage of what I remember eating came from a can or a box. We did eat home-made food for special occasions (pasties--particularly if there were relatives visiting! Yum! Turkey dinner for Christmas or Thanksgiving!). I think that we had real meat about as often as we had TV dinners or canned food containing meat, but when we did the veg often came from a can, and often the rice or potatoes were instant (but certainly not always). Comparing what I remember eating and what I eat now is like comparing night and day--two totally different creatures!

[madryn-1960.livejournal.com]

Yup! It tastes like poison, because it is poison - we had a bought pizza last night (very rare event, but my back was too bad to cook) and although the first hungry bite tasted interesting, reality soon set in, an it began to taste like what it was, greasy junk. The smell of the dead box this morning almost made me puke!

[kareina.livejournal.com]

Ick! Next time your back is that bad, have a cold meal of fresh veg that don't require cooking, supplemented by bread, or cheese, or crackers or...