Cooking Meat Smells Gross

I always used to think I loved the smell of meat cooking. I've discovered that it's really just the spices I love the smell of - the garlic, rosemary, pepper, etc... The smell of plain unadorned meat truly grosses me out now. And eggs always did smell gross while cooking. When I used to eat eggs, I put so much other stuff in them (onion, garlic, etc...) that it covered the smell. But someone was frying eggs the other day, and I had to leave the room.

I've recently heard the argument that because humans are actually plant-eaters, we are naturally disgusted by the look, feel, smell and taste of meat. This is why we have to change it so much in order to be able to eat it. We remove it as far from its original source as possible. We cut it into small pieces that in no way resemble the animal it came from. We cover it in spices (made from plants) to cover the taste, and we cook it to change the texture from squishy and slimy to a firmer texture and consistency that is closer to that of plants.

The longer I'm vegan, the more I re-sensitize to my natural disgust at the sight and smell of animal flesh. I recently saw a tape of knife demonstration that was very disturbing. The demonstrator had a huge slab of cow flesh hung from a hook and was slashing and stabbing at it to show how "effective" each of the knives were. After just a few moments of watching him slash these gaping wounds, into what was once a beautiful and gentle creature, I got nauseous and had to turn away.