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AIBU?

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Original poster

Aibu to refuse to cook smelly things?

84 replies

howdidthathappenn · 08/06/2025 16:17

My husband loves smoked fish and fried onions (not together but just an example) basically all the smelly foods he loves them, I completely refuse to cook them because I feel like the smell sticks to everything, your hair, curtains/carpet the entire house! I make sure windows and back door is open in the kitchen when cooking but the smells LINGERS it’s like it takes days of thoroughly cleaning to get the smell out and I have since told him I’m no longer cooking strong smelling foods. He’s obviously a bit annoyed but does anyone else agree?

OP posts:
quirkychick · 08/06/2025 17:17

Seeing as the sense of taste is strongly linked to the sense of smell - that's why you can't taste much when you've got a blocked up nose - a lot of delicious food smells.

I usually find shutting the kitchen door, opening the window/putting on the fan and lighting a cook's candle usually does the trick with stronger smells. Also, clearing away thoroughly afterwards helps.

Didimum · 08/06/2025 17:15

Life is for living, not protecting your curtains from the waft of fried onions.

BoundaryGirl3939 · 08/06/2025 17:14

I don't agree with you. It seems to be only your way, and nobody else's.

Mightyhike · 08/06/2025 17:12

Normally I'd say the cook decides, but loads of recipes have onions in them - do you really refuse to cook any of them?

MrsSkylerWhite · 08/06/2025 17:12

Guessing garlic is a step too far, OP? ….

murasaki · 08/06/2025 17:11

I can't eat eggs due to an allergy, and also hate the smell. But DP likes them and cooks them, as is his right in a jointly paid for house.

I grumble internally but never out loud.

meganorks · 08/06/2025 17:10

YABU. Most cooking smells. Onions FFS?! Literally in everything! I'd rather enjoy a delicious variety of foods than worry about the smells.

tumblingdowntherabbithole · 08/06/2025 17:09

It doesn't take "days" to get cooking smells out of a house. YABU for over-exaggerating.

But YANBU to refuse to cook certain things. Your DH can take over if he wants to eat them so badly.

ExercicenformedeZ · 08/06/2025 17:09

YANBU to refuse to cook them, but YABU if you say he can't cook them for himself.

HeddaGarbled · 08/06/2025 17:07

I hate cooking smells lingering in the house too. However, I’m not willing to go without fish, fried onions, curry, bacon, sprouts and all the other things that make the house smell, so I cook them with the kitchen door shut and window open.

Jemimapuddleduk · 08/06/2025 17:07

nah, this sounds miserable! I love fish, curries, onions etc. Just pop the extractor fan on and open a window!

tammienorrie · 08/06/2025 17:02

Fish can linger but we have found that doing it in the air fryer wrapped in foil helps considerably. Then open a window, stick a candle on.

steff13 · 08/06/2025 16:54

You're not unreasonable to not want to cook it. You would be unreasonable to stop him from cooking it.

MrsSkylerWhite · 08/06/2025 16:49

Glitchymn1 · 08/06/2025 16:31

Fish absolutely stinks, I’m with you. He cooks it.

Not if it’s fresh.

MrsSkylerWhite · 08/06/2025 16:48

JustAMiddleAgedDirtBagBaby · 08/06/2025 16:22

OP's not saying that though is she? She just isn't cooking it herself. If she does all the cooking in the house then he won't get the onions or fish. If he's also not allowed to cook it that's a different thing.

I don't really like fish. DH loves fish pie so he cooks it for himself. I do dislike the smell but it's not as bad if I'm not doing the cooking somehow!

Sorry, that was in response to the first reply.

Edited

Fish pie shouldn’t smell.

Tunnocksmallow · 08/06/2025 16:47

I’m sorry, but is this not his home too? Does he also contribute to it?

Do you literally live on pasta and white sauce? Because all food smells.

Surely he must have some foods he enjoys in his life?

I think you need to be a little less rigid OP, things may build up and cause problems.

TheNightingalesStarling · 08/06/2025 16:35

Is your house open plan?

minnienono · 08/06/2025 16:34

Onions smell delicious! Anyway nearly everything smells, if it doesn’t it’s likely to be bland and/or processed.

im cooking onions most days because they are a base for so many things

MrsSkylerWhite · 08/06/2025 16:34

Days of cleaning?

No it doesn’t. Extractor on, window open for 20 mins, job done.

What on earth do you eat if you won’t fry onions, they’re in pretty much everything worth eating?

TiswasPhantomFlanFlinger · 08/06/2025 16:32

You need a good extractor which extracts to the outside, not one that recirculates air through a filter. Open the kitchen window and close the kitchen door.
Don't live in an open plan house if cooking smells bother you.

ShiningStar3 · 08/06/2025 16:32

I don't think it's fair to dictate what someone else can cook. Unless you're pregnant and nauseous because that's a whole different ball game!

Glitchymn1 · 08/06/2025 16:31

Fish absolutely stinks, I’m with you. He cooks it.

2ndbestslayer · 08/06/2025 16:28

If you're the cook you choose. Can't say I agree with you on smelly foods though, even the strongest smelling stuff has gone completely in 24 hours ime - and that's with normal levels of cleaning

MissMoneyFairy · 08/06/2025 16:25

Would you cook them for your children

cramptramp · 08/06/2025 16:24

If you don’t like the lingering smell of fish put some white vinegar into a bowl and stand it in the kitchen. It will absorb the smell. Might work for other smells, but I only use it for fish.

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