Welcome
to When
the Mekong Flirts
with the Seine!
Our viewer Papa
Dmitri asks…

Why do some
foods smell like
defeat but taste
like victory?

An excellent
question.
A terrifying
shopping list.

Lima! 
Culinary SOS!
Is this a nose problem?
Can bioscience save
lunch?

My audience
deserves answers.
My nostrils want
evacuation.

Your nose
detects it.
Chemistry
explains what it
detects!

Invite
Molymoly. 
We met at 
Europe-bio, at a
conference.

Pebbleton
agrees.

Is
Pebbleton
your
coauthor?

Pebbelton

Moly, will you
explain stinky
foods on my show?

Gladly! Invite Zhu Zhu too.
Every great broadcast
needs an engineer.

And every great
experiment
needs… supplies.

Tell Zhu one cooking
machine has stopped
working. He cannot
resist a repair.

But my
processor
works!

Think of it as a
surprise
maintenance
invitation.

Zhu… my
processor is, ah…
out of order.
Mon Dieu, I am
bad at this.

Do not
move it.
Do not abandon
it. I am
coming.

Such a
helpful panda.
What could
possibly
go wrong?

Sir Dono, 
will you help
introduce
the regional dishes?
I do not know
every tradition.

Gladly. These foods
deserve context,
not just a dare.

And please
reserve a very
large water jug.

Our guests
have arrived!
All samples come
from trusted food
specialists.

This machine
is not broken.
Someone has
misdiagnosed it.

First principle:
smell cannot
certify safety.
Controlled
fermentation
is not rot.

Nor is
unfamiliar
food
an inferior
tradition.

Durian!
Rich, creamy flesh.
A fragrance with its
own personal
boundary dispute.

Ethanethiol,
C2H6S, adds
onion-like 
pungency.
Fruity esters
help make
the complete
aroma.

No smell
detected.
Leaf theft
detected.

Natto:
Japanese
fermented
soybeans with
spectacular
strings.

Branched
short-chain
acids, including
isovaleric acid,
C5H10O2,
can add
sweaty notes.
Ammonia
and pyrazines
join in.

Aroma
has reached
land.
Requesting
more water.

Ginkgo is our 
exception: the
notorious smell
comes from the
fleshy outer
coating, not a dish
made from it.

Butyric acid,
C4H8O2: a
rancid-butter
note. The
coating is
not food.

Seeds can
still be toxic
after cooking.
This is a display,
not an eating
challenge.

Stinky tofu!
Crisp outside,
tender inside, and
served with pickles
and sauce.

Depending on the
brine, indole, C8H7N,
and sulfur compounds
contribute. One food,
several odor families!

Sabaidee
to flavor. Au revoir
to my composure.

Cheonggukjang
is Korean
short-fermented
soybean paste,
often enjoyed
in hearty stew.

Its aroma can
include acids,
ammonia,
sulfides, and
pyrazines.
Fermentation
conditions
change
the balance.

Your fan
needs an
upgrade.
Unlike
your
processor.

Surströmming: Swedish
fermented Baltic herring,
often paired with flatbread,
potato, and onion.

Short-chain acids
and sulfur compounds
share the aroma. Butyric
acid is one contributor,
not the whole orchestra.

The
orchestra has
occupied my
sinuses.

Hákarl:
Icelandic
shark
made edible
through
specialist
processing
and drying.
Not a home
experiment.

Urea can become
ammonia, NH3;
trimethylamine,
C3H9N, adds fishy
notes.

I found
the fault.
The invitation
was broken.

Century
eggs! Not
actually
a century old:
an alkaline 
preservation
process.

Ammonia and sulfur
compounds can
contribute sharp notes.
Not every pungent food
gets its character by
fermentation.

My water is the only
thing aging rapidly.
It is disappearing.

Fish sauce
is my favorite
kitchen’s tiny
but mighty flavor
amplifier. A few
drops, not
a glass!

Amino acids help
supply umami.
Volatile acids and
amines, including
trimethylamine, can 
contribute aroma.

Thank you for
identifying which
glass is NOT water.

Shiokara: Japanese
salted, fermented
seafood; this version
uses squid and its
viscera. It is served
in small portions.

Protein breakdown builds
flavor. Amines and other
volatiles can add pungent
seafoodnotes. The exact
mix varies.

A small
portion?
Finally,
sensible
inventory
control.

Kiviak is a
Greenlandic
Inuit tradition
of fermented
little auks.
Preparation
requires
specialist
local
expertise.

Microbial
protein
breakdown
can yield
pungent
nitrogen
compounds
and acids.
It is
a complex
mixture.

We
respect
the expertise.
We are not
teaching a
kitchen
shortcut.

Chitlins are cooked pig intestines,
important in Southern US and African
American foodways. They are
not a fermented dish.

Indolic and sulfur
compounds can
contribute to strong
odors. Cleaning
and thorough
cooking are
essential—not 
a sniff test.

Tradition
on the plate.
Food safety in
the kitchen.

Époisses! 
A French
washed-rind cheese.
My French side is proud.
My nose is 
negotiating.

Rind microbes make
powerful aroma
compounds. 
Methanethiol, CH4S,
and branched acids
can bring 
cabbage-like and
sweaty notes.

Your nose
has submitted
several repair
requests.

Furu: Chinese fermented
bean curd, used sparingly
as a savory condiment.
Different styles taste
different.

Fermentation produces a mix
of acids, alcohols,esters,
and other volatiles. Some
batches smell sharply cheesy.

A little cube.
A very large
personality.

Kusaya comes from Japan’s Izu
Islands: fish cured in a traditional
fermented brine, then dried
and often grilled.

Sulfur compounds
and amines help
create its forceful
aroma. Different
processes make
different 
chemical mixtures.

Fifteen
demonstrations.
Zero odor signals.
One extremely
suspicious
panda.

Five useful smell buckets!
Not five elements,
 not a complete chemical
classification: foods can
belong to several.

1. SULFUR
COMPOUNDS H2S:
hydrogen sulfide. CH4S:
methanethiol. Eggy,
cabbage-like,
onion-like notes.

So durian
and cheese can
share chemical
relatives!

2. SHORT-CHAIN FATTY
ACIDS Butyric acid:
C4H8O2. Isovaleric
acid: C5H10O2. 
Rancid-butter
or sweaty notes.

Same chemica family,
different traditions. That
connects the map!

And this
paw connects
to a repeat
offender.

3. AMMONIA NH3: a
small nitrogen compound
with a sharp, pungent smell.

Microbes can
release it while
breaking down
nitrogen-rich
materials.
Hákarl is a
striking example.

Tiny
molecule.
Enormous stage
presence.

4. AMINES
Trimethylamine:
C3H9N. A classic
fishy odorant.
Ammonia
is related, but not
an amine.

Four buckets, and
already the
smells sound less
mysterious.

My mystery
remains: why
invite an engineer
to a working
machine?

5. INDOLIC COMPOUNDS
Indole: C8H7N. Skatole: C9H9N.
Strong concentrations can
smell fecal.

Dilute indole can
smell floral! 
Concentration
and mixtures
matter. These
five buckets leave
out many other
aroma compounds.

Incroyable!
The amount
changes the
experience.

And deliciousness is
more than odor:
taste, texture, aroma,
and familiarity work
together. Smelly
does not automatically
mean safe—or unsafe.

So: learn the 
chemistry, respect
the tradition, and
choose safely
prepared food. 
The title is a joke,
not a safety rule!

Thank you,
Moly, Sir Dono,
and Zhu!
And sorry, Zhu:
the broken
machine
was a trick.

Moly.
You could
simply ask.

May I have one
leaf? For science.
And possibly lunch.

One. 
Permission
is still the simplest
mechanism.

Five smell
groups. Fifteen food
stories. One undefeated
appetite.

No ginkgo
display for me.
Just the properly
prepared tasting
portions!

Nose: guarded.
Spoon: ready.
My wife’s solyanka
still wins
by knockout.

He finished the edible sampler.
The empty plates tapped first.