Dude...if it smells THAT bad you are totally in the clear on the whole “insulting your food/cooking” thing. I mean you are a pretty food savy guy, so I’m guessing it was pretty awful “food” for you to be unable to identify it.
” like burning rubber or a fish that had long since stopped being food”
I think shrimp flakes qualify. I used to rent a room from a Filipino family that cooked with them frequently.
Kind of reminds me of the Beverly Hillbillies. Granny was always cooking something noxious, or at least unfood like!
Friend of mine once lived next to a place that processed horseradish. He didn’t live there long and now can’t stand the smell of it let alone put it on his food anymore.