How do the senses vary among different races?

[G. Kashkanun Anderson]

I'm a bit surprised that this conversation has gotten as far as it has without anybody bringing up the K'kree's notoriously sensitive sense of smell. It's the reason anyone wishing to have anything pleasant to do with them must undergo a multiday 'detox' from meat -- or any meat-like products, for that matter:

It takes at least three days (sometimes more) for a human's system to eliminate all traces of odors associated with the consumption of meat. Until these odors are completely gone, K'kree reactions will be very negative, and the human will find a poor reception up to that time. Even meat substitutes (such as artificially flavored, textured vegetable protein) must be eliminated, since the flavorings can also be detected by the sensitive K'kree sense of smell.

CT Alien Module 2 -- K'kree

It is also noted there that time release scented wax balls are a highly developed art form among the K'kree.

Now, with the Vilani, I could see them having senses of taste and smell that are attuned to food that has been preserved, pickled, or otherwise treated to make it edible.

Maaaaybe. But keep in mind that the reason that they have to process their foods is due to how alien nearly everything technically edible on their homeworld is to begin with. It's possible, perhaps even likely, that 'raw' products from Vland don't even taste like food to a human palate. And with that in mind, it might be that shugilii processing makes it taste more like Terran food -- or at least like something a Solomani would be willing to eat.

The nearest terrestrial approximation I can think of right off the bat is acorns -- absolutely toxic to humans raw (and your taste buds will let you know that, too, after one bite), but kind of sweet and nutty tasting when processed correctly.

"Ham Slice MRE? Ugh.

You mean the ham in your neck of the woods isn't cured? What the heck do you feed your pigs over there to get them to taste like that?!