Why does exceptionally ripe brie cheese smell of boiled cauliflower?
• The very question suggests criminal maltreatment of two delicately delicious comestibles. Be that as it may, smells may resemble each other for either of two reasons: because the volatile substances contain the same chemical components, or closely related chemicals; or because they contain unrelated chemicals with similar smells. For instance, traces of ozone, some halogens and some nitrogen oxides all smell much the same, though all are chemically different.
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The odours of your cauliflower and cheese are in any case complex mixes. The major components of both include organic sulphur-containing compounds, and nitrogen-containing compounds called amines. Like cabbage, cauliflower is a brassica, and its characteristic flavourings are and related compounds that break down to produce various nitrogenous and sulphurous smells. Brassicas are also good sources of choline, which releases the notoriously smelly trimethylamine when decaying or over-boiled.
Brie, like any other cheese, is rich in proteins. These are broken down by fungi in the cheese, and associated organisms, producing derivatives of amino acids that include sulphur-containing groups such as thiols and a whole zoo of amino compounds including, once again, trimethylamine. Such combinations might well smell reminiscent of overcooked brassicas.
In suitable combinations, traces of such compounds are flavourings, but as the dying protests of abused delicacies, perhaps they can be more pungent.
Jon Richfield, Somerset West, South Africa