Covid is a weird virus. I'd be really curious about the mechanism behind this. I'm sure it's nothing great, like some sort of nerve damage, but at least in my friend's case he and his senses made a full recovery as far as he can tell.
I didn't feel like looking up how to spell allyl isothiocyanate when writing my initial comment. Maybe I should have! I've edited it for clarity, since it's an important distinction which adds to why I'm so danged curious about the mechanism behind my friend's temporary inability to perceive pungency. I also see how my original wording may have implied I was conflating the two, so I've expanded on my friend's experience a bit. He experimented with pepper and radish based spice sources in his pantry.
But also, outside of Japan, 95% of the time the stuff with your sushi isn't wasabi, it's green-colored horseradish-and-mustard paste.
so unexpected that i had to look it up; turns out you're right: https://chefcoca.com/blogs/food-service-equipment-resources/...
The heat sensation from capsaicin was unaffected. I was eating a lot of vegetable bowls at the time. Adding spiciness was the only that kept them palatable.
There were a few tastes that I could dully perceive but, stupidly, I didn't make notes about what they were.
I can recall one thing that I didn't like: I tried peanut butter, which I typically find delicious, and found it a horrifyingly disgusting soulless paste. It made me wretch. It was awhile, even after I got my sense of smell back, before I could eat it.
I don't believe my sense of smell has recovered to my pre-COVID capability. This story is very interesting to me.
The only “sensation” I had eas texture which I found very gross without flavor.
It was like that for about 2 months and it slowly came back over another 5 maybe 6. Salty was the first thing I noticed.
5 years later and I still don’t smell coffee, gas or a few other things. It’s weird walking down the coffee isle at the store and not smelling it at sll
It's powerfully off-putting, isn't it? I had no idea tasteless texture would be so upsetting.
I hope this treatment becomes something I can partake of personally. I find that I'm using a lot more salt than I used to trying to make up for lack of taste. I switched to a potassium salt substitute to try to reduce my sodium intake.
Not totally sure I fully believe it; but it seemingly worked for me.. shrug