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Not having cooked methi before, I thought it was okay to include the stems. Wrong - the chopped up stems remained tough and fibrous even after cooking.
I had cooked the greens with mustard seeds, which in spite of my familiarity with their popping action, made a bit of a mess on the stove.
Because of the stems, I told Qiao that he didn't have to eat his portion. Then, after meticulously picking out all the stems, I ate the remaining good parts up all by myself, just to get rid of the mess and be done with it. That was Sunday evening.
I didn't notice the methi having any strong flavor. Raw, it tasted simply like mild greens to me. This seemed odd, as I had read that it had a distinctive taste. I recall fenugreek seeds not having much of a smell either - only a light butterscotch smell.
Cooked, it was like spinach. Most of the taste was from the mustard seeds.
Fast-forward to Monday afternoon. I was surprised by and self-conscious of a smell emanating from my underarms, even though I had washed and used deodorant like usual that morning. After getting home in the evening, I washed and applied more deo, but the smell persisted. I worried that my deodorant was no longer working for me.
Tuesday morning, I showered and again applied deo. I even re-applied some deo before and after my lunch-time walk outside in the 100-degree heat. But I still noticed the odor. It's not even a very bad smell, but definitely unfamiliar. It's not the normal smell of my sweat.
So I wondered if it was from something I had eaten. I've been trying out SAM-e supplements... but I had started those over a week ago. Furthermore, I had gotten sweaty working in the yard on both Saturday and Sunday, without noticing this odor.
Then I remembered the methi and mustard seeds. I had eaten mustard seeds in the past without any ill effect. Could it be due to the methi? Yep, apparently so.
Fenugreek pungent sweat, how to get rid of it?
(from a comment on that page) Fenugreek contains an aromatic compound called Soletone. It smells sweet like maple and a bit curry-like. It is the scent that people notice wafting off of people from certain countries where it is commonly eaten. These people do not notice it since they and those they know mostly smell like it, so to them it isn’t an odd thing. Some Asians have commented that Americans all smell like rancid butter, which is probably true based on our diet. Some Asians smell like fermented cabbage to other people. The fact is that most of us shower every day and these smells have nothing to do with hygiene (although this can be a separate issue).
The Mystery of the Maple Syrup Smell
ETA: My body odor continued to smell of fenugreek for a whole week, even though I had only eaten it that one day!
I had cooked the greens with mustard seeds, which in spite of my familiarity with their popping action, made a bit of a mess on the stove.
Because of the stems, I told Qiao that he didn't have to eat his portion. Then, after meticulously picking out all the stems, I ate the remaining good parts up all by myself, just to get rid of the mess and be done with it. That was Sunday evening.
I didn't notice the methi having any strong flavor. Raw, it tasted simply like mild greens to me. This seemed odd, as I had read that it had a distinctive taste. I recall fenugreek seeds not having much of a smell either - only a light butterscotch smell.
Cooked, it was like spinach. Most of the taste was from the mustard seeds.
Fast-forward to Monday afternoon. I was surprised by and self-conscious of a smell emanating from my underarms, even though I had washed and used deodorant like usual that morning. After getting home in the evening, I washed and applied more deo, but the smell persisted. I worried that my deodorant was no longer working for me.
Tuesday morning, I showered and again applied deo. I even re-applied some deo before and after my lunch-time walk outside in the 100-degree heat. But I still noticed the odor. It's not even a very bad smell, but definitely unfamiliar. It's not the normal smell of my sweat.
So I wondered if it was from something I had eaten. I've been trying out SAM-e supplements... but I had started those over a week ago. Furthermore, I had gotten sweaty working in the yard on both Saturday and Sunday, without noticing this odor.
Then I remembered the methi and mustard seeds. I had eaten mustard seeds in the past without any ill effect. Could it be due to the methi? Yep, apparently so.
Fenugreek pungent sweat, how to get rid of it?
(from a comment on that page) Fenugreek contains an aromatic compound called Soletone. It smells sweet like maple and a bit curry-like. It is the scent that people notice wafting off of people from certain countries where it is commonly eaten. These people do not notice it since they and those they know mostly smell like it, so to them it isn’t an odd thing. Some Asians have commented that Americans all smell like rancid butter, which is probably true based on our diet. Some Asians smell like fermented cabbage to other people. The fact is that most of us shower every day and these smells have nothing to do with hygiene (although this can be a separate issue).
The Mystery of the Maple Syrup Smell
ETA: My body odor continued to smell of fenugreek for a whole week, even though I had only eaten it that one day!
no subject
Date: 2015-06-17 05:43 pm (UTC)From:I have never known an Asian to specifically smell like fermented cabbage, which is, after all, sauerkraut (a rather German concoction, indeed).
What does rancid butter even smell like? How would anyone know?
I find most of these comments weird and almost rather troubling.
no subject
Date: 2015-06-18 01:36 am (UTC)From:I can now attest that eating a large amount of fenugreek can definitely cause a peculiar body odor. Also, whenever I eat a lot of onions, I can smell it on me for a day or so.
Sauerkraut can indeed cause BO too, though it is rare in my experience. For a while, my mom reeked of sauerkraut whenever she came to visit me. At first I politely ignored it, but one day I finally decided to tell her. She was embarrassed and admitted that she had been eating sauerkraut from some old cans she had. And that it was even among the most delicious sauerkraut she ever had, so she'd feel bad about throwing it away in spite of how it made her smell. The sauerkraut must have been especially potent due to its age.
I too was wondering what rancid butter smells like. I suspect it must be like sour milk. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Butyric_acid
no subject
Date: 2015-06-18 06:26 pm (UTC)From:I was in a relationship with a guy who could not eat onions without reeking of them to the point that it was highly unpleasant for me to share close proximity with him after he ate any amount, to the point I could tell onions were in his food that day without even knowing when, what, or if he ate. And with another who's body flirts with that issue but never gets quite as intense, but who reeks of any - even the smallest few sips - of alcohol, to the point the smell is so intense as to be unbearable to me.
Then again, I can smell vodka reeking out of people, which seems technically impossible because vodka is not supposed to have any odor. I'd put it down to what I'm actually smelling is the alcoholic waste products of vodka emanating from skin, but the problem is, vodka has a smell to me coming straight out of the bottle, too (which is a slightly different, "cleaner", and less alcoholic smell than the one I detect as vodka-induced body odor). The cheaper it is the worse it smells (and the worse the body odor from it is, as well). Which is why when I do drink vodka, it's not cheap.
I tend to reek of garlic if I eat enough of it, and maybe a little less of onion; no matter how much onion I eat the smell doesn't seem to get too intense.