Redolent

Top Chef has become a part of my life, and I'm grieving a little that its going to end next week.

I blame Trinity for my obsession with the show now, which of course has led to my scouring the blogs by and about the show. Which brought me to my new word of the day -- redolent. According to dictionary.com:

red·o·lent [red-l-uhnt] adjective

1. having a pleasant odor; fragrant.
2. odorous or smelling (usually fol. by of): redolent of garlic.
3. suggestive; reminiscent (usually fol. by of): verse redolent of Shakespeare.

The word came up in Anthony Bourdain's blog, as he talked about the visually unappetizing, yet apparently delicious Sausage Shepherd's Pie that Cheftestant Brian Malarky whipped up last week. The context for such an elegant word is a bit of a gut check:

I don't care how fine Brian's “Sausage Shepherd's Pie (with Chicken)” tasted.
Let's assume it was indeed, delicious. Spectacularly so. I would argue that it
was an effort more redolent of chickenshit than actual chicken.

But I suppose using redolent is apropos, since saying something was more like chickensh*t evokes a sense of smell.