This Smells Funny...

Would you taste it? Of course I would because it goes without saying that stinky foods require a second opinion. I know this because growing up, the following scenario was all to familiar to me:

My grandma, mother or stepmother would remove the milk, cream or whatever from the fridge, open it, sniff and then ask whoever was loafing about the kitchen to give it a sniff or taste. Makes perfect sense to me. What if their olfactory senses were just not working to full capacity that morning? What if they already had an "off" aroma from something else. I was always more than happy to help out, which saved milk from being poured down the drain.

For years now, I have been unable to get any help in this realm; married as I am to a man who cannot conceive of the idea of sniffing potentially rancid dairy products (What happened during his formative years? Was he served sour milk and expected to drink it?) Whenever I ask my husband to sniff or taste, he regards me as if I were crazed and replies, "Why would I need to taste that if you think it stinks? Do I need to get sick too?" Now I ask you, is it really going to harm him to take one little whiff? What is the big deal?

The sniffing and whiffing of my youth took place in the days of the milkman, when milk didn't really last for more than a few days anyway. With ultra-pasteurized milk available, milk seems to last for an inordinate amount of time, as do other dairy products, but they eventually do turn, which is when the sniff test is necessary, which hasn't been that often.

All this changed once I started buying raw dairy products. Now I find myself sniffing, whiffing and sampling daily to reassure yourself that the milk, cream or butter has not turned sour or rancid.

What I have discovered is that often, when there is an off aroma, it is just a small amount of cream that has congealed at the mouth of the bottle but the contents within are still fine. I discovered that I am not the only one who dares serve potentially rotten goods to her family. At least now I have Izzy to confirm whether our dairy supply is fresh or rotten. He is more than happy to serve as the resident nose, sniffing every product on demand.