From tortilla chips to tree bark, from fancy cheese to toe cheese, there’s a world of smells all around us that tells us a lot about food, drink, and everything else. So says legendary food scientist Harold McGee in his new book, Nose Dive: A Field Guide to the World’s Smells. Harold joins us to explain the connection between wet dog smell and fermented cabbage, and why we should have more “smell empathy” for others. Then we chat with Nik Sharma, whose new cookbook, The Flavor Equation, lays out the six components of flavor: aroma, sight, taste, emotion, sound, and mouthfeel. Why does tomato juice taste better on an airplane? Nik explains. Plus, Dan and Nik bond over their potato chip selection strategy.

This episode originally aired on December 7, 2020, and was produced by Dan Pashman, Emma Morgenstern, Andres O'Hara, Tomeka Weatherspoon, Tracey Samuelson, and Jared O'Connell. The Sporkful team now includes Dan Pashman, Emma Morgenstern, Andres O'Hara, Nora Ritchie, and Jared O'Connell.

Every other Friday, we reach into our deep freezer and reheat an episode to serve up to you. We're calling these our Reheats. If you have a show you want reheated, send us an email or voice memo at [email protected], and include your name, your location, which episode, and why.

Transcript available at www.sporkful.com.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.