The opposite of air freshener
May 11, 2013 9:17 PM
Whenever I cook sauerkraut and pork in the crockpot, you can smell it all through the hallway of our apartment building. What are some other cooked foods with strong odors like this?
I'm writing a story in which one character is eccentric and extremely annoying to their neighbors, and one reason is the awful cooking smells emanating from their apartment. So what kind of food would he be cooking?
Any ethnicity of food is fine. The person's race/cultural background isn't important to the story.
I'm writing a story in which one character is eccentric and extremely annoying to their neighbors, and one reason is the awful cooking smells emanating from their apartment. So what kind of food would he be cooking?
Any ethnicity of food is fine. The person's race/cultural background isn't important to the story.
Curry! (Before my boyfriend and I lived together, he lived in an apartment and his neighbor across the hall made curry every weekend - you could smell it all through the hallway on his floor!)
posted by SisterHavana at 9:21 PM on May 11, 2013
posted by SisterHavana at 9:21 PM on May 11, 2013
Cabbage is, I think, the go-to food for "atmosphere."
Onions, I'm told, are similar. But I cook onions all the time, so I can't vouch for that.
posted by SPrintF at 9:22 PM on May 11, 2013
Onions, I'm told, are similar. But I cook onions all the time, so I can't vouch for that.
posted by SPrintF at 9:22 PM on May 11, 2013
Shrimp paste, durian.
posted by sebastienbailard at 9:23 PM on May 11, 2013
posted by sebastienbailard at 9:23 PM on May 11, 2013
Anything deep-fried in canola oil.
Broiled oily fish, skin-on, that's anything but straight out of the ocean (ala shioyaki).
Kimchi chigae - stew cooked with old, strong kimchi. Similar to your sauerkraut smells.
Anything onion- and/or garlic-heavy, especially when green. I had neighbors that cooked with onions every night and we could smell it through the vents.
Also anything with fish sauce. Thai or Vietnamese. Come to think of it, there are plenty of Vietnamese foods that can generate floating "stinky" food smells - bi (shredded pork skin), prik nam pla (Thai fish sauce with chiles), nuoc cham (Vietnamese dipping sauce with fish sauce) - though I guess those aren't cooked and the smell doesn't permeate. But anything cooked with fish sauce will definitely fill a room with a strong smell.
posted by mock muppet at 9:28 PM on May 11, 2013
Broiled oily fish, skin-on, that's anything but straight out of the ocean (ala shioyaki).
Kimchi chigae - stew cooked with old, strong kimchi. Similar to your sauerkraut smells.
Anything onion- and/or garlic-heavy, especially when green. I had neighbors that cooked with onions every night and we could smell it through the vents.
Also anything with fish sauce. Thai or Vietnamese. Come to think of it, there are plenty of Vietnamese foods that can generate floating "stinky" food smells - bi (shredded pork skin), prik nam pla (Thai fish sauce with chiles), nuoc cham (Vietnamese dipping sauce with fish sauce) - though I guess those aren't cooked and the smell doesn't permeate. But anything cooked with fish sauce will definitely fill a room with a strong smell.
posted by mock muppet at 9:28 PM on May 11, 2013
Chili - probably due to heavy onion/garlic/curry content as noted above.
posted by ceribus peribus at 9:35 PM on May 11, 2013
posted by ceribus peribus at 9:35 PM on May 11, 2013
One of the stinkiest things anyone would normally do in a kitchen is render lard. There's a reason why the first step in these instructions is "Open your kitchen window."
posted by Orinda at 9:38 PM on May 11, 2013
posted by Orinda at 9:38 PM on May 11, 2013
Rancid garlic. Two of my former roommates had the exact same palate and loved garlic extensively, but they lacked the taste receptors that told them when something had gone rancid, so whenever they cooked, they cooked with oft-rotten condiments and spices, with garlic being the most frequent star of their home cooked meals. Drives me to tears just thinking about it.
posted by These Birds of a Feather at 9:41 PM on May 11, 2013
posted by These Birds of a Feather at 9:41 PM on May 11, 2013
Anything deep fried. At first the smell is "Mmmm fried things." After a while the smell is "heavy dead grease that is hanging all over making everything grosssss." At least that's how I usually feel.
posted by Swisstine at 9:41 PM on May 11, 2013
posted by Swisstine at 9:41 PM on May 11, 2013
Fish. All fish is the work of the devil himself. SO STINKY. SO LINGERY.
posted by elizardbits at 9:55 PM on May 11, 2013
posted by elizardbits at 9:55 PM on May 11, 2013
Bacon. It's a bit like the deep fried thing, at first it smells oh so delicious and you salivate. Unless vegetarian. But after an hour or so, especially if you have eaten the bacon and are now very full, it smells horrible. "Heavy dead grease" is about right.
Burnt toast is also surprisingly carrying smell-wise and smells quite bad after repeated exposure.
Anything with asafoetida, which covers the curry suggestions above (as it is commonly used in Indian curries). I once made the mistake of sniffing a sealed jar of it in an Asian/Indian grocery and it smelled SO BAD that I nearly retched, plus it crawled up my nose and started to throw a party for all its asafoetida friends there. I was forced to seek out some very strong incense to sniff in order to drive it out. Pity, as it's apparently quite good for you and doesn't taste as bad as it smells.
posted by Athanassiel at 10:03 PM on May 11, 2013
Burnt toast is also surprisingly carrying smell-wise and smells quite bad after repeated exposure.
Anything with asafoetida, which covers the curry suggestions above (as it is commonly used in Indian curries). I once made the mistake of sniffing a sealed jar of it in an Asian/Indian grocery and it smelled SO BAD that I nearly retched, plus it crawled up my nose and started to throw a party for all its asafoetida friends there. I was forced to seek out some very strong incense to sniff in order to drive it out. Pity, as it's apparently quite good for you and doesn't taste as bad as it smells.
posted by Athanassiel at 10:03 PM on May 11, 2013
Onions and cruciferous veggies (broccoli, cauliflower...)
posted by cecic at 10:15 PM on May 11, 2013
posted by cecic at 10:15 PM on May 11, 2013
The other day I bought some "salmon jerky" dog treats for my dog.
They fucking REEK. Like, seriously, I did not know anything dried could smell this bad.
They smell so bad I have to wash my hands after I give him one.
I actually LOVE fish, and salmon is one of my favorites. But still, with the reeky.
So something fish, for sure.
posted by Sara C. at 10:23 PM on May 11, 2013
They fucking REEK. Like, seriously, I did not know anything dried could smell this bad.
They smell so bad I have to wash my hands after I give him one.
I actually LOVE fish, and salmon is one of my favorites. But still, with the reeky.
So something fish, for sure.
posted by Sara C. at 10:23 PM on May 11, 2013
I love the durian suggestion because even people who like it think it smells godawful. But not so much cooking involved...A similar one would be stinky tofu (chou doufu), beloved in Taiwan. Again, even the fans know it reeks.
(I adore the curry scents in my apartment complex, and pity the people who don't like it. I mean, there is that getting hungry every time I go down the hall thing, but other than that...)
posted by wintersweet at 10:23 PM on May 11, 2013
(I adore the curry scents in my apartment complex, and pity the people who don't like it. I mean, there is that getting hungry every time I go down the hall thing, but other than that...)
posted by wintersweet at 10:23 PM on May 11, 2013
Also, because I feel like I need to also contribute a human food, I will say that the smell of canned tuna makes me want to DIE. I don't know that I can smell it down an apartment hallway, but for the love of god I will fucking CUT A BITCH who is eating a tuna sandwich on public transit.
(Re durian, it doesn't smell nearly as bad as people say. It has a pungent odor that doesn't entirely match its flavor, but it's not like cabbage or fish in its intense filthy WTF just kill me now stinkiness.)
Other ideas:
burnt popcorn (a smell I personally sort of like, but man it can linger)
raw garlic
I had some Bulgarian sheep's milk feta recently that was rank as hell, though I don't know that the neighbors smelled it.
posted by Sara C. at 10:28 PM on May 11, 2013
(Re durian, it doesn't smell nearly as bad as people say. It has a pungent odor that doesn't entirely match its flavor, but it's not like cabbage or fish in its intense filthy WTF just kill me now stinkiness.)
Other ideas:
burnt popcorn (a smell I personally sort of like, but man it can linger)
raw garlic
I had some Bulgarian sheep's milk feta recently that was rank as hell, though I don't know that the neighbors smelled it.
posted by Sara C. at 10:28 PM on May 11, 2013
Frying hamburger meat -- I (life-long vegetarian, not real clear on the details of meats) think it has to be a particularly cheap and fatty variety being pushed around in a skillet? A nice burger doesn't quite do it, but more a particular kind of mince. Just terrible, fills a house.
Your eccentric character could be poor or into being ultra-thrifty for meals, because a lot of smelly things are cheap (cabbage, the aforementioned cheap minced beef, onions) and a lot of smelly things are used to flavour cheap foods... Maybe he catches his own fish to round out his diet.
Asafoetida really does reek -- "devil's sweat" is an accurate term -- but while it is unspeakably awful in the jar, it does not smell at all like that as it cooks. You would not be able to asafoetida up a hallway without dumping out jars of asafoetida in the hallway.
posted by kmennie at 10:31 PM on May 11, 2013
Your eccentric character could be poor or into being ultra-thrifty for meals, because a lot of smelly things are cheap (cabbage, the aforementioned cheap minced beef, onions) and a lot of smelly things are used to flavour cheap foods... Maybe he catches his own fish to round out his diet.
Asafoetida really does reek -- "devil's sweat" is an accurate term -- but while it is unspeakably awful in the jar, it does not smell at all like that as it cooks. You would not be able to asafoetida up a hallway without dumping out jars of asafoetida in the hallway.
posted by kmennie at 10:31 PM on May 11, 2013
The guy that makes fish in the microwave is one of the few things that has prompted a near actual-fists-involved beatdown in an office environment in my career. We literally chased him from the office and he had to stay away for a few hours so we could simmer down.
posted by Ghostride The Whip at 10:36 PM on May 11, 2013
posted by Ghostride The Whip at 10:36 PM on May 11, 2013
Pâté. It tastes so good but, cooking, it smells so so bad. We made Mum only make it in Summer, so we could evacuate the house.
posted by pompomtom at 10:41 PM on May 11, 2013
posted by pompomtom at 10:41 PM on May 11, 2013
Blood sausage.
posted by Cold Lurkey at 11:06 PM on May 11, 2013
posted by Cold Lurkey at 11:06 PM on May 11, 2013
Once my husband made gooseberry ketchup that made the whole apartment building smells like a bum's arse for three days. We were so embarrassed.
posted by Specklet at 11:22 PM on May 11, 2013
posted by Specklet at 11:22 PM on May 11, 2013
Specklet reminds me -- never spill fish sauce.
I imagine that a glass bottle of Thai fish sauce that might chance to fall out of a grocery bag and shatter all over the stairs would make a person pretty damn notorious amongst their neighbors.
posted by Sara C. at 11:36 PM on May 11, 2013
I imagine that a glass bottle of Thai fish sauce that might chance to fall out of a grocery bag and shatter all over the stairs would make a person pretty damn notorious amongst their neighbors.
posted by Sara C. at 11:36 PM on May 11, 2013
The worst cooking smell ever is burnt baked beans. Ugh. It goes through the whole building and it lingers. It smells like burning tires.
posted by Ouisch at 11:49 PM on May 11, 2013
posted by Ouisch at 11:49 PM on May 11, 2013
Dear Christ, there is only ONE answer to this.
Asafoetida, a spice primarily in some Indian cuisine.
posted by jbenben at 11:52 PM on May 11, 2013
Asafoetida, a spice primarily in some Indian cuisine.
posted by jbenben at 11:52 PM on May 11, 2013
I once seriously destroyed the air quality of an apartment by trying to boil the flesh off of a roasted lamb's head. Given the many recipes for lamb headcheese and skull-stock that I'm finding, with no mention of the hideous reeking, it seems odd, but I know what I smelled. Have your guy boiling-up a lamb skull scavenged from a Greek Easter party. The funk-of-the-crypt will hang in the air for days.
posted by mumkin at 12:51 AM on May 12, 2013
posted by mumkin at 12:51 AM on May 12, 2013
Dried squid. Roasting coffee beans in quantity. Dry-roasting pork (as when browning ribs or meatballs before braising). And yes, fish sauce in quantity makes the eyes water.
Burnt microwave popcorn has a fatty persistence I find very unpleasant.
Rotten eggs have a reputation for good reason.
posted by gingerest at 1:04 AM on May 12, 2013
Burnt microwave popcorn has a fatty persistence I find very unpleasant.
Rotten eggs have a reputation for good reason.
posted by gingerest at 1:04 AM on May 12, 2013
Making marmalade creates a powerful, unpleasantly pungent and bitter smell that lingers for days.
posted by Lorc at 2:00 AM on May 12, 2013
posted by Lorc at 2:00 AM on May 12, 2013
Burnt hardboiled eggs...... one of my roommates once managed to do this: she left the pot boiling so long (she forgot she had it on the stove) that all the water boiled off, and the eggs and shells were literally burnt black. I threw out the whole thing, pot and all.
Perhaps your character could be an enthusiastic but incompetent amateur cook: willing to try recipes from around the world, which would make it possible to use ALL of the ideas above, plus add another element to annoying their fictional neighbors: "What is heaven's name is that SMELL?!? What could they possibly be trying to cook now?!?"
posted by easily confused at 2:38 AM on May 12, 2013
Perhaps your character could be an enthusiastic but incompetent amateur cook: willing to try recipes from around the world, which would make it possible to use ALL of the ideas above, plus add another element to annoying their fictional neighbors: "What is heaven's name is that SMELL?!? What could they possibly be trying to cook now?!?"
posted by easily confused at 2:38 AM on May 12, 2013
Singapore's 'anti-Chinese curry war'
a couple of years ago in Singapore there was a brouhaha over curry. newly-arrived residents from PRC were pitted against the longtime curry-loving singaporeans of various races.
posted by kryptos at 3:51 AM on May 12, 2013
a couple of years ago in Singapore there was a brouhaha over curry. newly-arrived residents from PRC were pitted against the longtime curry-loving singaporeans of various races.
posted by kryptos at 3:51 AM on May 12, 2013
Surströmming.
Surströmming is a staple of traditional northern Swedish cuisine and is fermented Baltic herring. (...) When opened, the contents release a strong and sometimes overwhelming odour; the dish is ordinarily eaten outdoors. According to a Japanese study, a newly opened can of surströmming has one of the most putrid food smells in the world, even more so than similarly fermented fish dishes such as the Korean Hongeohoe or Japanese Kusaya.
posted by martinrebas at 4:00 AM on May 12, 2013
Surströmming is a staple of traditional northern Swedish cuisine and is fermented Baltic herring. (...) When opened, the contents release a strong and sometimes overwhelming odour; the dish is ordinarily eaten outdoors. According to a Japanese study, a newly opened can of surströmming has one of the most putrid food smells in the world, even more so than similarly fermented fish dishes such as the Korean Hongeohoe or Japanese Kusaya.
posted by martinrebas at 4:00 AM on May 12, 2013
Smoked kippers cooked in a microwave.
Dear God, my father-in-law. Every morning. All the way up to the attic.
posted by Katemonkey at 4:08 AM on May 12, 2013
Dear God, my father-in-law. Every morning. All the way up to the attic.
posted by Katemonkey at 4:08 AM on May 12, 2013
The girlfriend worked at a motel for a year or so, and occasionally saw otherwise-homeless people check in for a night when they found some sort of windfall cash. One particular gentleman had the money to buy a few lobsters at the grocery store, but didn't think to request a room with a kitchenette.
After he checked out, housekeeping discovered that he had apparently managed to cook his lobsters in the bathtub. The smell, I hear, was overpowering.
posted by catalytics at 4:34 AM on May 12, 2013
After he checked out, housekeeping discovered that he had apparently managed to cook his lobsters in the bathtub. The smell, I hear, was overpowering.
posted by catalytics at 4:34 AM on May 12, 2013
Oh my goodness. Assam Laksa. It combines the already terrible fishy smell from boiling fish/making fish stock with belacan (shrimp paste - and that stuff is strong and concentrated!). It is then served with a black prawn paste (although I think you have to be up close to be offended by this one). I would evacuate the house whenever mum made it.
posted by pianissimo at 4:58 AM on May 12, 2013
posted by pianissimo at 4:58 AM on May 12, 2013
Liver! Also, kippers.
posted by Dorothea_in_Rome at 5:37 AM on May 12, 2013
posted by Dorothea_in_Rome at 5:37 AM on May 12, 2013
Even usually pleasant cooking smells can be awful if they linger for a while. So this character could use a slow cooker to make foods like homemade soups, chili, barbecue, spaghetti sauce, etc.
And ditto the above comment about frying lower-quality ground beef! Ewww!! I'll add almost-gone-bad "fresh" sausage to the list.
Also, Spam frying smells like Satan's armpit.
posted by SuperSquirrel at 5:38 AM on May 12, 2013
And ditto the above comment about frying lower-quality ground beef! Ewww!! I'll add almost-gone-bad "fresh" sausage to the list.
Also, Spam frying smells like Satan's armpit.
posted by SuperSquirrel at 5:38 AM on May 12, 2013
Balut. I may have mis-spelled that, but it's Filipino: you take a duck egg with the embryo half-grown, and pickle the thing, sorta like kimchi --- and it smells about as bad as kimchi, too.
posted by easily confused at 6:10 AM on May 12, 2013
posted by easily confused at 6:10 AM on May 12, 2013
Various cabbages and relatives (including broccoli, Brussel sprouts, and collard greens) are especially bad when cooked for a long time.
posted by Gygesringtone at 6:33 AM on May 12, 2013
posted by Gygesringtone at 6:33 AM on May 12, 2013
You want kale, a very close relative of collard greens. Experience the effect of North German Kohl und Pinkel (the latter is not what you may think it means).
Wolfram Siebeck, a German food reviewer who's been publicly sarcastic about food since the seventies, once described his rising horror when he ascended the stairs to the apartment of friends who had invited him to this dish. I forget the details but recall a whole paragraph about burning tires.
Look, I love Kohl und Pinkel and miss it dearly here in Sweden, and I couldn't care less about how it stinks when I prepare it, but, truth be told...it's also a smell that settles thoroughly in textiles and rugs.
So I think your character should have made it a habit cooking large quantities of kale-related veggies with a lot of strongly smoked pork goodies in huge pots for hours at end, re-heating the remains over the next three days after night shift and before dawn, whatever you prefer. That'll dot he trick pretty thoroughly.
posted by Namlit at 6:49 AM on May 12, 2013
Wolfram Siebeck, a German food reviewer who's been publicly sarcastic about food since the seventies, once described his rising horror when he ascended the stairs to the apartment of friends who had invited him to this dish. I forget the details but recall a whole paragraph about burning tires.
Look, I love Kohl und Pinkel and miss it dearly here in Sweden, and I couldn't care less about how it stinks when I prepare it, but, truth be told...it's also a smell that settles thoroughly in textiles and rugs.
So I think your character should have made it a habit cooking large quantities of kale-related veggies with a lot of strongly smoked pork goodies in huge pots for hours at end, re-heating the remains over the next three days after night shift and before dawn, whatever you prefer. That'll dot he trick pretty thoroughly.
posted by Namlit at 6:49 AM on May 12, 2013
Tripes, tripe : When I was stationed in the Air Force at Del Rio Texas one of my friends cooked intestines: Outside in a covered boiler. Very aromatic, and I did try the gravy and it was zesty!
posted by Upon Further Review at 7:04 AM on May 12, 2013
posted by Upon Further Review at 7:04 AM on May 12, 2013
Boiling onions have a distressingly bad, un-foodlike smell.
posted by Francolin at 7:14 AM on May 12, 2013
posted by Francolin at 7:14 AM on May 12, 2013
When I was a kid, my parents would occasionally heat up a can of corned beef hash. It would make the whole house so stinky that I avoided corned beef in all forms for years. (Then I discovered the Reuben, the ultimate sandwich.)
posted by usonian at 7:16 AM on May 12, 2013
posted by usonian at 7:16 AM on May 12, 2013
Boiling shrimp makes a house smell like a cat food factory.
posted by corey flood at 8:29 AM on May 12, 2013
posted by corey flood at 8:29 AM on May 12, 2013
Hare. Boy that thing stank up my house. I'm told the term is "gamy".
posted by Grunyon at 8:34 AM on May 12, 2013
posted by Grunyon at 8:34 AM on May 12, 2013
The smell of cooking or frying in stale oil is repulsive to me, as is the smell of chicken cooking, and those smells linger.
Also, burnt/cooked chocolate* (which would be a likely scenario if the character baked) and roasting coffee (which is probably less likely) but I may be the only one who thinks so.
*Yes, I am saying that I don't like the smell of chocolate-chip cookies baking!
posted by Room 641-A at 9:12 AM on May 12, 2013
Also, burnt/cooked chocolate* (which would be a likely scenario if the character baked) and roasting coffee (which is probably less likely) but I may be the only one who thinks so.
*Yes, I am saying that I don't like the smell of chocolate-chip cookies baking!
posted by Room 641-A at 9:12 AM on May 12, 2013
Crockpot caramelized onions - the house stunk for days...
posted by crazycanuck at 9:31 AM on May 12, 2013
posted by crazycanuck at 9:31 AM on May 12, 2013
Chitterlings/chitlins
posted by bluesapphires at 11:04 AM on May 12, 2013
posted by bluesapphires at 11:04 AM on May 12, 2013
If you think the smell of cooking sauerkraut is strong, the act of MAKING/ fermenting sauerkraut is about 100 times worse.
posted by hydra77 at 12:13 PM on May 12, 2013
posted by hydra77 at 12:13 PM on May 12, 2013
Indian food and curries. One time I brought a microwavable frozen Indian entree to work (this one or maybe it was this) and I could hear people in the hallway complaining about the smell. If it smelled like garlic and basil and olive oil, I bet no one would've complained, but I digress. (I'm just a white girl who loves Indian food and I don't understand people who don't like it or are unwilling to try it.)
posted by AppleTurnover at 1:04 PM on May 12, 2013
posted by AppleTurnover at 1:04 PM on May 12, 2013
... roasting coffee ... but I may be the only one who thinks so.
No, there are at least two of us. Any time someone rhapsodizes about the smell of coffee, I reply that it smells like burned beans.
posted by Bruce H. at 1:56 PM on May 12, 2013
No, there are at least two of us. Any time someone rhapsodizes about the smell of coffee, I reply that it smells like burned beans.
posted by Bruce H. at 1:56 PM on May 12, 2013
Chitterlings/chitlins
For the record, Jeffrey Dahmer's neighbors reported that the smell which emanated from his apartment was reminiscent of chitlins.
posted by easy, lucky, free at 4:11 PM on May 12, 2013
For the record, Jeffrey Dahmer's neighbors reported that the smell which emanated from his apartment was reminiscent of chitlins.
posted by easy, lucky, free at 4:11 PM on May 12, 2013
The smell of chili makes me want to vomit. I seem to be somewhat unique in this, though, given the prevalence of chili cookoffs.
posted by desjardins at 7:53 PM on May 12, 2013
posted by desjardins at 7:53 PM on May 12, 2013
I agree with martinrebas; Surströmming trumps durian, balut, and anything else I've experienced.
I've heard of people being evicted from their flat for eating it.
My Swedish friends had it outdoors in the courtyard of their flat one year. They opened the can, and you could hear all the windows being hurriedly closed all the way up six stories. It's beyond nasty.
LiveLeak has a video of Americans opening a can. It's not safe for work, or lunch, or anything else.
posted by blob at 8:10 PM on May 12, 2013
I've heard of people being evicted from their flat for eating it.
My Swedish friends had it outdoors in the courtyard of their flat one year. They opened the can, and you could hear all the windows being hurriedly closed all the way up six stories. It's beyond nasty.
LiveLeak has a video of Americans opening a can. It's not safe for work, or lunch, or anything else.
posted by blob at 8:10 PM on May 12, 2013
Fenugreek is really pungent but not really bad smelling. Lambs' kidneys sort of smell like lamb and pee when they're overcooked and while tasty my DH won't be anywhere in the house when I make them.
posted by fiercekitten at 9:27 PM on May 12, 2013
posted by fiercekitten at 9:27 PM on May 12, 2013
Going by the effects and planning involved: using and re-using (and re-using) old cooking oil. My wife's favorite restaurant is actually pretty awesome, lots of nose to tail (or gills to tail, I guess) cooking with varieties of fish not commonly used. Sadly, I don't think the owner/operator/cook has ever, EVER changed the oil. My wife, when she makes plans to go there after work, will make sure to dress in machine washable clothes, and even carry a machine washable bag. As soon as we get home, clothes go in the machine, showers are taken.
Old oil smells that bad. It's the very definition of cloying. You're character could just be the sort that doesn't know they need to change the oil, and some nice neighbor could show them the light.
posted by Ghidorah at 12:05 AM on May 13, 2013
Old oil smells that bad. It's the very definition of cloying. You're character could just be the sort that doesn't know they need to change the oil, and some nice neighbor could show them the light.
posted by Ghidorah at 12:05 AM on May 13, 2013
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posted by Cool Papa Bell at 9:20 PM on May 11, 2013