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Question of the day

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* From the Guardian…

The sweet smell of green chile roasting on an open flame permeates New Mexico every fall, wafting from roadside stands and grocery store parking lots and inducing mouth-watering visions of culinary wonders.

Now one state lawmaker says it’s time for everyone to wake up and smell the chile.

Senator Bill Soules’ visit with fifth grade students in his southern district sparked a conversation about the savory hot peppers and the potential for New Mexico to become the first state in the nation to proudly have an official state aroma, a proposal now being considered by lawmakers.

“It’s very unique to our state,” the Las Cruces Democrat said of roasting chile. “I have tried to think of any other state that has a smell or aroma that is that distinctive statewide, and I can’t think of any.”

For New Mexico, chile is more than a key ingredient for every meal. It’s life. It’s at the center of the official state question – “red or green?” – and is one of the state’s official vegetables.

I hesitate to do this, but…

* The Question: Your Illinois nomination(s) for official state aroma? Make sure to explain yourself. Also, keep it clean, people. Thanks.

…Adding… A buddy ran a version of this question through ChatGPT twice today…

Suggest an official state smell for the state of Illinois and write 25 words defending the choice

“The official state smell of Illinois should be corn. Corn is an integral part of Illinois’ history and economy, as it is one of the largest producers of corn in the United States. It represents the state’s commitment to agriculture and its important role in feeding the nation. The sweet, distinct smell of corn symbolizes the abundance and prosperity of Illinois.”

Suggest an official odor for the state of Illinois and defend the choice in 25 words

“The official odor of Illinois should be the scent of blooming lilacs. Lilacs symbolize the arrival of spring and bring feelings of renewal and rejuvenation to the residents of Illinois. Their sweet fragrance represents the state’s natural beauty and the hope that comes with each new season. The scent of blooming lilacs is a reminder of the state’s rich history and enduring spirit.”

I’m partial to lilacs.

posted by Rich Miller
Thursday, Feb 2, 23 @ 9:12 am

Comments

  1. Decatur in the morning … smells like victory!

    Comment by someonehastosayit Thursday, Feb 2, 23 @ 9:15 am

  2. the smell from the South Farms at the U Of I when the wind blows north

    Comment by beat iowa Thursday, Feb 2, 23 @ 9:17 am

  3. I nominate cannabis, because it’s already pungent. Go downtown these days and try to avoid a contact high. You won’t.

    Comment by St. Nick Thursday, Feb 2, 23 @ 9:17 am

  4. The sweet sweet smell of success? /s

    Comment by Dysfunction Junction Thursday, Feb 2, 23 @ 9:19 am

  5. Driving down I-55 southwest out of Chicago on a 100 degree day with the windows open.
    Double whammy with the sewerage district and the Argo corn plant.

    Comment by train111 Thursday, Feb 2, 23 @ 9:20 am

  6. Blommer Chocolate would be appropriate for Chicago.

    For the rest us the state, there’s nothing like the scent of cornfields in August. (Unless you are allergic to corn pollen.)

    Comment by Pot calling kettle Thursday, Feb 2, 23 @ 9:20 am

  7. Garretts Popcorn - the aroma alone draws people in.

    Comment by Fulmer Thursday, Feb 2, 23 @ 9:20 am

  8. The sweet smell of chocolate being manufactured!

    Comment by Mr. Blommer Thursday, Feb 2, 23 @ 9:20 am

  9. I second the vote for the smell of Decatur (ADM). Sometimes the smell has a faint base note of fried chicken.

    Comment by Near West Side Thursday, Feb 2, 23 @ 9:20 am

  10. Driving with the car windows open in the spring and then that deep earthy aroma of freshly disked prairie soil hits you. The culmination of 10,000 years of verdant prairie grass that smells like heaven.

    Comment by Sangamo Girl Thursday, Feb 2, 23 @ 9:21 am

  11. I love downtown Chicago smells of steak and pizza as I walk by the great restaurants.

    Comment by Lurker Thursday, Feb 2, 23 @ 9:23 am

  12. Freshly plowed farm ground and newly mown hay.

    Comment by Steve Reick Thursday, Feb 2, 23 @ 9:24 am

  13. Non-Snark
    Grills going in the summer

    Snark
    That South Suburban Chemical Smell I grew up with

    Comment by OneMan Thursday, Feb 2, 23 @ 9:25 am

  14. I’d vote for the warm, greasy aroma of a Vienna Beef/red hots shop. Nothing feels more like Chicago than the deep fryer, the griddle, and the gyro rotisserie all going at once on a cold winter day. It’s the smell of a particular form of Chicago hospitality that’s short on words but big on portion sizes.

    Comment by vern Thursday, Feb 2, 23 @ 9:26 am

  15. Argo Corn Products in Summit. Both semi-urban/suburban and the smell of Illinois crops being processed. Really the best of Illinois if you think about it.

    Comment by JS Mill Thursday, Feb 2, 23 @ 9:26 am

  16. caramelized onions - Maxwell St Polish 24 hours a day

    Comment by frisbee Thursday, Feb 2, 23 @ 9:27 am

  17. Blommers? The stockyards? Probably too Chicago-centric.

    Comment by Scorekeeper Thursday, Feb 2, 23 @ 9:29 am

  18. Grilled onions at Sox Park. Very Chicago, which is in turn, very Illinois!

    Comment by Hannibal Lecter Thursday, Feb 2, 23 @ 9:30 am

  19. Pumpkin. We are the largest producing state for pumpkin, which defines fall. We should be the Pumpkin state.

    Comment by Amalia Thursday, Feb 2, 23 @ 9:30 am

  20. Excellent question, and timely.

    I nominate what is reverently referred to as “Stinky Stayleys” over in Decatur, for producing the most distinct aroma of Illinois. They process corn unlike any other facility in the Nation.

    Comment by H-W Thursday, Feb 2, 23 @ 9:30 am

  21. 17th St. BBQ in Murphysboro

    Comment by Former ILSIP Thursday, Feb 2, 23 @ 9:31 am

  22. Walking into a Sox game. The smell of the stadium.

    Comment by Eire17 Thursday, Feb 2, 23 @ 9:31 am

  23. Hot air. With all the city, village and township hall, county buildings and legislative bodies, we have to be the Nation’s leading producer.

    Comment by Southside Markie Thursday, Feb 2, 23 @ 9:32 am

  24. sweet candy smells chocolate in particular between Ferra in Forrest Park and tootsie in ford city

    According to the Tootsie Rolls website, on average, 64 million Tootsie Rolls are produced every day.

    Comment by Donnie Elgin Thursday, Feb 2, 23 @ 9:32 am

  25. There’s specific regional smells… like, as a kid, going to the beach in Chicago was accompanied by the smell of alewives decomposing. South of 80, it’s cafos and cooking soy/corn. I try to escape to the state parks where nature can tickle my nose.

    Comment by Anonymous Thursday, Feb 2, 23 @ 9:33 am

  26. Rich is brave today.
    The state smell is the sweet smell of corruption.

    Comment by Bruce( no not him) Thursday, Feb 2, 23 @ 9:33 am

  27. ===producing the most distinct aroma of Illinois===

    That’s not the question. Some of you are missing the point here.

    Comment by Rich Miller Thursday, Feb 2, 23 @ 9:34 am

  28. I’d second the smell of chocolate being made you get for blocks around at Blommers Chocolate Company on Kinzie.

    Comment by West Side the Best Side Thursday, Feb 2, 23 @ 9:35 am

  29. ===The stockyards? Probably too Chicago-centric. ===

    Also, are you 80?

    I mean, no offense, but what the heck?

    Comment by Rich Miller Thursday, Feb 2, 23 @ 9:36 am

  30. Non Snark. The wonderful smell of garlic that used to waft through Little Italy in Chicago on any given night when there were more Italian restaurants operating.

    Comment by Southside Markie Thursday, Feb 2, 23 @ 9:37 am

  31. Decatur might have my vote but we can’t forget Beardstown and their meat processing plant.

    Comment by Grimlock Thursday, Feb 2, 23 @ 9:42 am

  32. As Aliota, Haynes, and Jeremiah sang it:

    “Sometimes you can smell the green if your mind is feeling fine.”

    Comment by Jerry Thursday, Feb 2, 23 @ 9:43 am

  33. Bruce took the words out of my mouth.
    (Or the aroma from my nose?)

    Comment by Keyrock Thursday, Feb 2, 23 @ 9:45 am

  34. The Decatur Staley’s smell

    Comment by Mamacita Thursday, Feb 2, 23 @ 9:45 am

  35. I vote for the smell of a corn field on a humid August day. Hard to describe, impossible to miss, and ubiquitous across the state.

    Comment by SIUEalum Thursday, Feb 2, 23 @ 9:54 am

  36. I agree on Decatur Staley’s smell. Many of the items mentioned are smells you can find a lot of places. The only place I have smelled large scale soybean processing is Decatur.

    Comment by City Guy Thursday, Feb 2, 23 @ 9:56 am

  37. As much as I want to say chocolate from Blommers, I think that would more likely be the Pennsylvania state aroma with Hershey, PA. I am with Amalia, pumpkin is a good idea.

    Comment by CornAl DoGooder Thursday, Feb 2, 23 @ 9:58 am

  38. The smell of Jimmy John’s and Bernie and Betty’s pizza being carried through hallways of the Statehouse by staffers in May.

    Comment by Give Me A Break Thursday, Feb 2, 23 @ 10:00 am

  39. I-talian Beef sandwiches.

    Comment by MaddyMoon Thursday, Feb 2, 23 @ 10:02 am

  40. When I was younger and travelled around the country, what always surprised me when I came back and stepped out of the doors of O’Hare was the absolute punch in the face of car exhaust fumes. It’s the most consistent smell that follows me everywhere, because of our essential place in the national transportation infrastructure.

    Comment by NIU Grad Thursday, Feb 2, 23 @ 10:03 am

  41. As a Millikin grad I have to vote for Decatur and the odor of Staley, then Tate & Lyle and now someone else. Alternatively, the smell of baking bread and/or cookies from the Pepperidge Farm factory in my western suburbs neighborhood. The former makes me think of the late Representative Webber Borchers (let’s see if anyone else remembers him) and the latter reminds me of Pate who worked for Pepperidge Farm.

    Comment by Facts Matter Thursday, Feb 2, 23 @ 10:11 am

  42. I would second Pumpkin as well.

    We are also known as a major horseradish state. talk about aromas.

    Comment by Baloneymous Thursday, Feb 2, 23 @ 10:14 am

  43. ===Go downtown these days and try to avoid a contact high. You won’t.===

    I *assume* downtown means Chicago, and if that’s the case, I gotta wonder where you are hanging out because outside the random CTA car it’s not my experience to even smell it.

    Comment by jimbo Thursday, Feb 2, 23 @ 10:19 am

  44. Our diversity is our weakness when it comes to questions like this. I can’t think of anything that would be experienced state wide. Locomotive diesel smell, perhaps?

    Comment by Jaguar Thursday, Feb 2, 23 @ 10:22 am

  45. Peoria has had a similar processed corn smell over the years as has Decatur. Especially during the brewery era.

    Comment by Stuck in Celliniland Thursday, Feb 2, 23 @ 10:29 am

  46. Let’s bring back the smell of burning leaves in the fall.

    Comment by a revelator Thursday, Feb 2, 23 @ 10:30 am

  47. ==Decatur might have my vote but we can’t forget Beardstown and their meat processing plant.==

    Monmouth has had a similar smell from their pork plant over the years too.

    Comment by Stuck in Celliniland Thursday, Feb 2, 23 @ 10:31 am

  48. That Chicago Sewer smell. When it first wafts up in April or so I know it’s Spring.

    Downstate: definitely that awful Decatur smell or “corn sweat”

    Comment by Senator Clay Davis Thursday, Feb 2, 23 @ 10:37 am

  49. Since Illinois is still primarily an agricultural state, I’d say either

    (a) as someone already mentioned the smell of freshly plowed or harvested fields

    or

    (b) industrial hog farms, with their shall we say unique aroma

    Comment by RNUG Thursday, Feb 2, 23 @ 10:45 am

  50. The distinctive summertime odor of creosote-treated railroad ties is a smell that unites all of Illinois.

    – MrJM

    Comment by MisterJayEm Thursday, Feb 2, 23 @ 10:48 am

  51. Petrichor

    Comment by The Hedgewitch Thursday, Feb 2, 23 @ 10:50 am

  52. Whether it’s soybean/corn processing in Decatur, chocolate in Chicago, or hog farms throughout the State, I’ve heard all of those smells given the same nickname: The smell of money.

    Comment by fs Thursday, Feb 2, 23 @ 10:57 am

  53. -fs- As far as the smell of money, you should also include the oil fields in the Illinois basin. For good smells, it’s hard for this country boy to top the smell of a green cornfield after the rain.

    Comment by The Ford Lawyer Thursday, Feb 2, 23 @ 11:15 am

  54. When I was a kid, I loved smell of all the Sunday BBQ’ing in the neighborhoods along the Dan Ryan Expressway. That’s my vote.

    Comment by oifredleg Thursday, Feb 2, 23 @ 11:17 am

  55. The smell of a corn field after a spring rain.

    Comment by James Thursday, Feb 2, 23 @ 11:28 am

  56. Definitely that ethanol plant smell that smells a little bit like sourdough starter. Although maybe it’s more of an Official Midwestern Aroma, I also associate it with Indiana and Iowa. Anyway, smells like home.

    Comment by Suburban Mom Thursday, Feb 2, 23 @ 11:29 am

  57. Horseradish when it is ripe and ready to be picked in Collinsville. If you’ve ever driven by it, you know what I mean.

    Comment by levivotedforjudy Thursday, Feb 2, 23 @ 11:30 am

  58. I have two valid suggestions:

    - Beer. Illinois has some of the highest concentration of craft breweries in the country.
    - fresh giardinara, especially in a Portillo’s Italian beef. Irresistible and distinct for our food traditions.

    Comment by Here for the laughs Thursday, Feb 2, 23 @ 11:40 am

  59. I think my favorite is going out in the country a few miles and smelling nothing but clean air.

    It may not exist all over the state, but clean air is a wonderful thing.

    Comment by Streator Curmudgeon Thursday, Feb 2, 23 @ 11:49 am

  60. The smell of the air when the wind is off the lake.

    The aroma of bread as you go past Turano’s Bakery.

    Comment by JoanP Thursday, Feb 2, 23 @ 11:55 am

  61. Props to the Mold-A-Rama machines at the MSI, the Field Museum, and Brookfield Zoo.

    The smell is unique and the molds last forever.

    Comment by Rudy’s teeth Thursday, Feb 2, 23 @ 11:59 am

  62. The smell in any given neighborhood of grilled burgers and meat, even occasionally in the winter.

    Comment by Stuck in Celliniland Thursday, Feb 2, 23 @ 12:01 pm

  63. This post is a blast through my memories. Stayleys, alewives, sulphuric oil pumps (one right at the end of my block when I was a kid)…
    Plant, animal, minerals, IL has it covered for aromas.

    Comment by cermak_rd Thursday, Feb 2, 23 @ 12:10 pm

  64. The smell of a horseshoe sandwich. Either that or the smell of a politician sweating.

    Comment by Boone's is Back Thursday, Feb 2, 23 @ 12:15 pm

  65. The breathtaking aroma of anhydrous ammonia.

    Comment by Which one is Pink Thursday, Feb 2, 23 @ 12:16 pm

  66. A cornfield in July

    Comment by Fisher Thursday, Feb 2, 23 @ 12:32 pm

  67. …the smell of meat a’cookin’?

    Comment by Mike K Thursday, Feb 2, 23 @ 1:17 pm

  68. Freshly popped popcorn with butter.

    Comment by Loop Lady Thursday, Feb 2, 23 @ 1:40 pm

  69. Malort. Full stop

    Comment by AU Thursday, Feb 2, 23 @ 2:09 pm

  70. On west Kinzie in Chicago is Blommer Chocolate. The scent of chocolate…since 1939.

    Comment by Rudy’s teeth Thursday, Feb 2, 23 @ 2:12 pm

  71. The aroma of deep dish pizza could be good.

    Comment by Scamp640 Thursday, Feb 2, 23 @ 2:31 pm

  72. Nothing more distinctive than the smell of soybean processing at ADM and Staley/Tate & Lyle in Decatur.

    Comment by Ms_KJP Thursday, Feb 2, 23 @ 3:11 pm

  73. A picnic in the rain right after a prairie fire.

    Comment by 37B Thursday, Feb 2, 23 @ 3:45 pm

  74. I second the sweet smell of cash.

    Comment by Anonymous Citizen Thursday, Feb 2, 23 @ 4:22 pm

  75. I’m partial to lilacs too.

    Comment by Just a Citizen Thursday, Feb 2, 23 @ 4:41 pm

  76. Steamed hot dogs !

    Comment by South Side Sam Thursday, Feb 2, 23 @ 8:52 pm

  77. Lots of good ones here Rich. You really need to figure out how to get a like button on here.

    Comment by Been There Thursday, Feb 2, 23 @ 11:01 pm

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