Scent dictionary · Scent families
Fermented
Lên men
Fish sauce, fermented soybean paste, fermented tofu, overripe fruit. The most divisive family, and also the richest in information — it tells you where something stands between fresh and spoiled.
10 entries · 9 linked compounds
lighter than essential oils
Trimethylamine · 3 °C
Diacetyl · 88 °C
Acetic acid · 118 °C
Ethyl butanoate · 121 °C
Isoamyl acetate · 142 °C
2,5-Dimethylpyrazine · 155 °C
Butyric acid · 164 °C
Ethyl hexanoate · 168 °C
Dimethyl trisulfide · 170 °C
< 150 °CTop
Middle
290 °CBase
9 linked compounds, from 9 of the family’s 10 entries. This is what we have been able to trace so far, not the whole chemistry of the family — entries whose chemistry is still blank will fill in the picture over time. Left of the dashed line are compounds lighter than any essential-oil component — they are gone before the main axis begins.
Every entry
- Durian · Sầu riêngOpen a pod of ripe durian and smell as soon as it is pulled apart
- Fermented bean curd · ChaoOpen a jar of chao, lift a piece onto a plate and smell from a hand’s span away
- Fermented pork roll · Nem chuaUnwrap a nem chua fermented for the full number of days and smell at once
- Fermented rice starter · MẻOpen a jar of mẻ and smell the surface
- Fermented shrimp paste · Mắm tômA little shrimp paste on the tip of a chopstick, held two hand-spans from your nose
- Fermented soybean paste · Tương bầnOpen a jar of tương bần and smell from about a hand’s span away
- Fermented sticky rice · Cơm rượuLift the lid of a jar of sticky rice after three days of fermenting
- Fish sauce · Nước mắmOpen a bottle of traditional first-press fish sauce
- Pickled mustard greens · Dưa cải muốiLift the lid of a crock of mustard greens that have soured fully and smell what rises
- Ripe jackfruit · Mít chínOpen a perfectly ripe jackfruit and smell as soon as the first pod is pulled out