Philip Bump: I have learned this week that I am part of the subset of humanity that can perceive “boar taint,” which is when the meat of a male pig that hasn’t been castrated is being cooked and, to some people, it smells strongly of urine.

I have learned this week that I am part of the subset of humanity that can perceive “boar taint,” which is when the meat of a male pig that hasn’t been castrated is being cooked and, to some people, it smells strongly of urine.

what a gift

lolsob

1. Learn you can sense boar taint 2. ? 3. Profit

this is what i imagine posting on linkedin is like

Congratulations? I prefer your other superpowers of snark and sarcasm, but you be you.

Can you also smell asparagus pee?

I can!

Are you a supertaster, Philip? You can test for it.

dont forget to subscribe to Phil's newsletter, 'How To Identify This Taint'.

A porcine taint sommelier

Oh. This is interesting, since every so often I find the smell of pork really gross.

Every time I have doubts about the wisdom of the laws around kosher food -- mostly, because shrimp is *delicious* -- I learn something new like this.

A wee bit.

I initially read that as “boat taint” and was trying real hard to follow with a surprising lack of success.

They’re out there sniffing rudders and propellers, and they smell like barnacles.

I wonder if there’s a super rare human that perceives boar taint, has pee that smells after eating asparagus AND thinks cilantro tastes like dish soap?

That’s me! And yet I happily keep eating all three. It’s all about managing one’s expectations.

Boar taint was never something I needed to become familiar with. Thanks, Philip. 🤷‍♀️

Congrats?

That post really started off in one direction and made a sharp left turn about halfway through.

I think I am one too and have found that briefly parboiling a pork shoulder before continuing a recipe eliminates the problem smell.

Professor X is holding on line 2 for you.

Congratulations.. and condolences.

not sure who told you it was a subset, i mean, i guess a majority of people is a subset. there's been a ton of agricultural research into this lately esp with breeding boars that produce less taint to make it palatable. @sarahtaber.bsky.social might know more about this

Yeah, just meaning: not everyone.

It’s androstenone and it’s disgusting.

Wow aren’t you lucky :)

I experienced some boar taint bacon many years ago and just recently discovered that it wasn’t my imagination.

Honestly thought "boar taint" described a cut of meat and wondered who would want to eat *that*

Omg, so I only eat pork from a specific source because otherwise there's a 50/50 chance it reeks like piss to me. I thought the stores just sold nasty pork

I mean, I’m kinda glad that “perceiving boar taint” means what it means…because that’s not what I was thinking at first.

Boar Taint Bump

I have the same thing with cilantro

It’s always nice to have marketable skills. I’d love to have that one on my LinkedIn profile.

honestly it sounds horrible en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superta...

Supertaster - Wikipediaen.wikipedia.org

I'm going to remember this the next time I eat pork, which means I probably won't eat pork for a very long time.

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