Thumpy Rose Excited about the new journey of meatless high protein meals eh? Yes, vegetarian African food or plant-based African foods have many positives. Aunty, not to rain on your parade, but this honest feedback talks about possible bad reactions to meat smells around you. This is after you quit cooking and eating meat. Before, I didn’t think that meat smells bad when cooking since we were groomed to add plant smells as well. Like the sweet aroma of cinnamon, or the comforting scent of ginger. It was years later that I finally understood this fact. So, this article talks about four (4) types of meat smells that make me nauseous.
Have you experienced something similar? If so, what animal protein makes you want to barf? Comment below.
Disclaimer- I do not hold back or sugar-coat in this opinion post segment. So without any meandering, let’s dive in.
Honest feedback beyond ethics about meat smells
By now you know I’m plant-based and not vegan, which I prefer to be honest about. This list of meat smells is strictly based on bodily reactions, not ethics. Heck, I grew up eating most of these things. When I switched to eating just plants, I didn’t get disgruntled about meat smells around me until now. My present disgust of meat smells built up over time. From most to least, here are the four (4) types of meat smells that make me nauseous:
1) Pork/Pig products
No disrespect to pigs. But when I was starting my vegetarian African food journey, this was the first animal protein that was removed. As I cooked more meatless high protein meals, ALL pig products had to go! Presently, I have a rule in my house: my husband should consider not buying pig products. If/when he does, which is fine, he must alert me to stay away from the kitchen area, and all windows in the kitchen must be opened. This meat smells bad when cooking, just my honest feedback here. I almost barfed/vomited one day before he realized I wasn’t joking or being dramatic.
2) Beef
Beef is another product that sneaked up in the past years. As you may know, my husband eats meat (carnivore), so I’ve been around grilled steaks and ground beef. I eat plants; vegetarian African food filled with meatless high protein meals. A few months ago, it occurred to me that cow meat smells bad when cooking because my husband uses minimal/zero savory-smelling add-ons during his cooking. Same house rules as before; he must alert me to stay away and open all the windows in the kitchen.
3) Sardines
Y’all, this one is hilarious. Honest feedback here, I used to eat sardines out of the can before I became vegetarian and sickened by meat smells… Apparently fish included. It seems to be just canned sardines because we have 4 cats (yup, cat lady too! Meow!). I feed the cats animal proteins, which doesn’t offend my senses too much. I just can’t linger when feeding them wet cat food, so it’s mostly dry cat food. My husband doesn’t eat sardines so I don’t have to set strong rules about this. It’s just so funny how this was my favorite food back in the day! Lol!
4) Chicken
Chicken is last because this meat smells, but I’ve found ways to adjust. I think it also depends on the type of chicken (organic vs. GMO-based). I sometimes cook my husband’s food, and I noticed that organic chicken doesn’t discharge that sickening meat smell my body detected in other meats. Plus, I noticed that if he buys organic chicken, the meat smells bad when cooking, but it is tolerable. Just my honest feedback after observing his cooking (which I refused to do for some time based on these points).
No shade just honest observation
Have you noticed how society heavily soaks, floods, saturates, and drenches meat products with things like garlic, onions, locust beans, palm-butter leaves, rosemary, and so many other plants? Could it be that adults realized that meat smells bad when cooking so they are trying to hide the awful smell with plant fragrances? It is funny. But hey, honest feedback. You should observe how Africans try to season goat meat, which has a very strong smell. They bring out all the plant-based tricks to hide the goat meat smells but goats and pigs will always snitch. Shout out to the goats and pigs! Even the best-smelling plants cannot hide them, they must shine! 😊
Related: Vegan unpopular opinion on piggybacking
Finally- the reality
I didn’t think I’d be in this boat where certain meat smells make me sick. I’ve heard other people’s stories about similar reactions, but I just thought, “That’s them, not me.” If you want to change your eating habits but are afraid of what disliking the smell of meat will mean for you, don’t worry. Don’t let this stop you from exploring vegetarian African food or other meatless high-protein meals because these adverse reactions to meat smell build up over time. But if you notice immediately that certain meat smells bad when cooking and you decide to stay away from it, kudos to you. I like that I was flexible in my attitude about meat smells within society. But it got to the point where I just can’t be in the same room with certain meat smells. That’s all for now. Got questions? Comment below and let’s glean into the situation. Curious about a no-animal-meat food lifestyle? Check out our Instagram page for real-life inspirations 😊
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