The Asian Reporter Columns - asianreporter.com

INSIDE:

NEWS/STORIES/ARTICLES
Book Reviews
Columns/Opinion/Cartoon
Films
International
National
NW/Local
Recipes
Special A.C.E. Stories
Sports
Online Paper (PDF)

CLASSIFIED SECTION
Bids & Public Notices
NW Job Market

NW RESOURCE GUIDE
Consulates
Organizations
Scholarships
Special Sections

Asian Reporter Info

About Us

Advertising Info.

Twitter

ASIA LINKS
Currency Exchange
Time Zones
More Asian Links

My Turn
by

Wayne Chan

From The Asian Reporter, V32, #12 (December 5, 2022), page 7.

When a nose is not a nose

I recently learned about being a "nose."

I have a nose, and as far as I can tell, I’ve been using it all my life. But as to being a perfume maker, I have never been a quote, unquote, nose.

Let’s back up a bit.

My wife Maya and I travelled to Europe on vacation. The last part of our trip was in Nice, Paris, and for a day excursion, we went to Grasse, France, which, I was told, is the birthplace of perfume. So, naturally, instead of lounging on the beach gazing at all the topless people walking around, we decided to go to Grasse and take a perfume-making class.

At the start of the class, the instructor explained that being a "nose" is the epitome of perfume making. It’s an art, where a professional nose, after taking one whiff of a perfume, can immediately identify every individual component of a perfume — whether a note of vanilla, jasmine, lavender, or any other scent imaginable.

This is when I realized that I do not have a "nose." I have a nose, of course, but not a "nose."

In fact, once we sat down to "compose" our first perfume, I couldn’t really identify any particular scent. To be honest, it all smelled like I had been dropped into a giant vat of potpourri. A few times during our lesson, I had to go outside to clear my head and breathe in some of the traffic exhaust before continuing to "compose."

So while I may never have a second career as a perfume composer, on a different level, I now have a deeper appreciation of a sense that I’ve had all my life. In fact, you might say it’s been a sense hidden right under my nose the whole time. (Sorry, I couldn’t resist that one.)

Of course, there are the pleasant smells everyone is familiar with — freshly baked cookies, the ocean breeze on a summer day, my ability to identify every topping on a pizza at 50 paces. We all have our favorites.

Yet what fascinates me more are the unpleasant scents, the awful odor of things that, for everyone’s benefit, I won’t describe right now. It’s not that I appreciate these terrible smells, but in very specific cases, it’s how people have managed to turn them into very profitable businesses.

Since I’m Chinese American, let’s start with Smelly Tofu. It’s smelly, and it’s tofu. That’s it. That’s the product. You can find it in China and Taiwan. It has a rotten stench. It smells like a leather shoe that has been worn too long during a particularly hot summer. And yet, people line up to eat it, typically at night markets throughout the area. It has a crackly crunch and oozes out a bit of soy sauce when you bite into it. The smell comes from the fermentation of the tofu, which can take about a week to truly ripen. It’s a revolting delicacy.

But horrible smelling food isn’t just a phenomenon of the east. While in France, I discovered Époisse de Bourgogne, a cheese so pungent that it’s banned on all French public transportation. It’s also prohibited from being imported to several countries.

It smells awful, and that is what people like about it. Wait a MINUTE! I’ve missed a whole new business model!

Over the next few weeks, my new company Odoriffic will premiere a brand new product that will take over the sandwich world. Introducing … Sandwich au thon avarié. For those of you who are turning to Google translate to find out the literal meaning in French, it’s "Spoiled Tuna Sandwich." While that might be technically correct, our sandwich is so much more.

It’s not just a spoiled tuna sandwich. It’s served with a slice of Époisse de Bourgogne on top and a side of smelly tofu.

I can already see the franchise store opportunities.

Humor writer Wayne Chan lives in the San Diego area;

cartoonist Wayne Chan is based in the Bay Area.

Read the current issue of The Asian Reporter in its entirety!
Go to <www.asianreporter.com/completepaper.htm>!

Opinions expressed in this newspaper are those of the
authors and not necessarily those of this publication.

My Turn by

Wayne Chan

My Turn
by