smelless foodie

The inevitable question I get when I tell someone I can't smell is "can you taste?". I used to find the question annoying because I love food so much that it was obvious to me- and therefore should be to others- that I can taste. But as I got older and really thought about it, I realized that I can really only taste the major 'taste' sensations: sweet, salty, sour, bitter, spicy (which is a pain receptor, not a taste) and maybe umami:
"Taking its name from Japanese, umami is a pleasant savoury taste imparted by glutamate, a type of amino acid, and ribonucleotides, including inosinate and guanylate, which occur naturally in many foods including meat, fish, vegetables and dairy products. As the taste of umami itself is subtle and blends well with other tastes to expand and round out flavours, most people don’t recognise umami when they encounter it, but it plays an important role making food taste delicious." http://www.umamiinfo.com/what_exactly_is_umami?/ (yes, there is an Umami Information Centre as well as a Umami Summit)
Perhaps I have an over-capacity to taste umami and that is why I enjoy food so much even though I can't identify subtle flavours. So for example, I would have a hard time telling you that something has a vanilla flavour, or what kind of spice was used in the chicken dish, or that I enjoyed the hint of rosemary on the mashed potatoes. I think I base a lot of what I like and dislike on texture. I hate green beans from the can but I can eat green beans lightly fried with salt and pepper. But I love food, not all food was created equal, and I aspire to being a smelless foodie....if only I cooked more for myself.
For most people, if they have a bad cold which affects their sense of smell, they might find food to be bland. It's true that according to some studies (or at least the first item that popped up in Google), that up to 75% of what we taste actually comes from our sense of smell. So basically, I've taken the 25% and made it 100%. I'm okay with that. My friends and family can tell you that my appetite is just fine.
But there are challenges. Wine, for example, is something I struggle with...I like wine....I like the feeling I get with wine....I can tell a dry wine...but I can't tell you what flavours are in a wine...I can't get a real picture of what a real wine lover is tasting. But bring on the wine...

For more info you could check out http://www.sciencedaily.com/videos/2006/0608-why_i_hate_anchovies.htm