St. Louis: For the Senses: Seafood City

Seafood City, University City, Missouri. 2018.

Am I so far off from a dog? I'm beginning to think not.

Seafood City, University City, Missouri. 2018.

A dog of my childhood joyfully rolled in putrefying fish on a stony beach, the rot taking color in yellow and orange, to sing with the squishy stench.

Crawfish, Seafood City, University City, Missouri. 2018.

One of the joys of entering Rouse's Market in Lafayette was the smell of fish, both raw and cooked.

There was that not-quite-right blend of boiled, spiced crawfish with sticky sweet buns and a bottom note of crawfish etoufee at the Crawfish Etoufee Cookoff in Eunice. Here's what I wrote about that then:

It's extraordinary to smell the fragrances of  muddy bayou, spicy crawfish boil, and cinnamon buns all at once. I couldn't decide if I loved it or felt repelled by it. Attempts to come to a conclusion required many careful inhalations, to no avail.

So when I entered Seafood City on Olive Street in University City this summer, the intake of breath brought a sensory rush from the mixture of fresh and fishy, raw and cooked, the living and the dead, beauty and gore.

Seafood City, University City, Missouri. 2018.

There is pleasure in this as there is in approaching a terrifically pungent, soft cheese. The aroma is preposterous, but the flavor and texture are so fully sensual, and the combination of all is splendid. Which reminds me of this one anchovy I consumed recently. This small, floppy grayish-silvery thing, homely; but its oily, fishy, salty dimensions of flavor required deliberation of thought and closed eyes to extend the life of their chorus.

On my first visit to Seafood City, I saw my very first jackfruit. Until then, I'd only read about them. They are huge!

Jackfruit, Seafood City, University City, Missouri. 2018.

The idea of a Buddhist style chicken puzzled me as I guess I thought Buddhists were vegetarian.

Buddhist chicken, Seafood City, University City, Missouri. 2018.

I wonder how "fresh" is defined. Minutes? Hours? Days?

Fresh pork blood, Seafood City, University City, Missouri. 2018.

A slide show of my visits to Seafood City below:






This isn't the first time I've been a "scentsual" tourist. There was a satisfying trip through the Celestial Seasonings plant outside Boulder, Colorado in 2016.

I will likely need another hit of Seafood City before I leave Missouri this year.

Colorado: Boulder: The Scentsual

Mmmmm. Peanut tea. Credit: Eric Christopher Perry

I am a sensualist, there is no doubt. The luxuries of sight, taste, touch, hearing, and smell are wondrous avenues to living a rich life, independent of one's material wealth.


Consider the sense of smell. So many nouns to describe the nuances of this gift. 

• Smell
• Fragrance
• Aroma
• Odor
• Stench
• Scent
• Stink
• Perfume
• Bouquet
• Musk

A twist of herb. Yerevan, Armenia. March 2012.

So many ways to describe the character of a smell: 

• Spicy
• Floral
• Citrusy
• Tangy
• Sweet
• Sour
• Musky
• Crisp
• Clean
• Pungent
• Light
• Sharp
• Fishy
• Metallic
• Herbal
• Earthy
• Moldy
• Musty
• Buttery
• Nutty
• Rotting
• Barnyard 
• Minty

Spice Market, Istanbul. June 2012.

A couple of years ago, when I attended the Crawfish Etoufee Cook-Off in Eunice, I experienced the discordant but compelling aromas of sweet cinnamon rolls competing for air with spicy crawfish boils.

Spicy crawfish. Crawfish Etoufee Cook-Off. Eunice, Louisiana. March 2014.

In 2012, a drive through Derry, New Mexico, introduced me to the heady scent of roasting peppers in October.


In 2011, in Awassa, Ethiopia, the odor of giant storks nesting in the branches above me was so outrageously pungent as to make me laugh in appalled admiration.

But getting back to Colorado. One day, I visited the Celestial Seasonings plant outside of Boulder.

A good tour, and I recommend it. No pics allowed in the plant, therefore I have none to show.

The most memorable take-aways for me: 

Walking through waves of scent. An aroma bath. Breathing deeply to pull in those biological perfumes. Sheer sensual pleasure.

The mint room. It's in its own room because mint's perfume is so sharp, so pungent, that it invades all other fragrances in its wave. Some visitors cannot even stay in this room for longer than a few seconds because they are overcome by its power.

Spice Market, Istanbul. June 2012.

Breathe in. Mmmmm.