Стоит мне вспомнить тот запах дыма и маринада, как мне снова хочется на природу.

This is a fixed Russian pattern meaning as soon as I ... , ... happens or it only takes me to ... for ... to happen.

So:

• Стоит мне вспомнить ... , как ... = As soon as I remember ... , ... = It only takes me to remember ... for ...

The word стоит here is not the ordinary costs meaning. In this construction, it acts more like it is enough / it only takes.

A very close structural parallel is:

• Стоит ему позвонить, как все собираются. = As soon as he calls, everyone gathers.

Because this construction uses the person in the dative case:

• стоит мне
• стоит тебе
• стоит ему
• стоит нам

Literally, it is something like it only takes for me to...

So:

• Стоит мне вспомнить = It only takes me to remember = As soon as I remember

This is one of those Russian structures where English would usually use a subject like I, but Russian uses the dative instead.

Because the sentence refers to a single completed mental act: to recall, to remember once, to bring to mind.

• вспомнить = perfective, a completed act of remembering
• вспоминать = imperfective, the process or repeated act of remembering

In Стоит мне вспомнить..., the idea is:

• the moment I recall that smell,
• immediately I want to go outdoors again.

So perfective fits very naturally.

If you used вспоминать, it would sound less natural here because the construction is about a trigger event, not an ongoing process.

Because как introduces the second part of the correlative construction:

• Стоит ..., как ...

The two parts are linked and separated by a comma, just as in many Russian complex sentences.

So the structure is:

• first clause: Стоит мне вспомнить тот запах дыма и маринада
• second clause: как мне снова хочется на природу

This punctuation is standard for this pattern.

It is the direct object of вспомнить.

• вспомнить что?
  тот запах дыма и маринада

That is why тот запах is in the accusative case. Since запах is masculine inanimate, its accusative looks the same as the nominative:

• nominative: тот запах
• accusative: тот запах

So even though the form does not change, the function is still direct object.

Because they depend on запах:

• запах чего?
• запах дыма и маринада
• the smell of smoke and marinade

This is a very common Russian pattern:

• запах кофе = smell of coffee
• вкус мяса = taste of meat
• цвет неба = color of the sky

So дыма and маринада are genitive singular forms after the noun запах.

Because хочется is also an impersonal construction that usually takes the experiencer in the dative:

• мне хочется
• тебе хочется
• ему хочется

So the sentence has two separate dative-based structures:

1. Стоит мне вспомнить ...
2. мне хочется ...

Even though English would say I remember and I want, Russian often uses dative in these kinds of expressions.

Хочется is softer, more impersonal, and often more natural for a spontaneous feeling or urge.

Compare:

• Я хочу на природу. = I want to go to the countryside / outdoors. This is more direct and definite.

• Мне хочется на природу. = I feel like going outdoors. = I have the urge to go out into nature.

In this sentence, хочется works well because the smell triggers a feeling automatically. It sounds like an emotional reaction rather than a firm decision.

Because на природу expresses direction: the feeling of wanting to go out into nature / outdoors / to the countryside.

• на природу = to nature, out into the countryside/outdoors
• на природе = in nature, outdoors, in the countryside

Compare:

• Мне хочется на природу. = I feel like going outdoors.

• Мы отдыхали на природе. = We relaxed outdoors / in the countryside.

So here the accusative after на shows movement or destination, even though the verb of motion is not stated explicitly. The idea is I feel like going out into nature.

Yes, very much so. Russian commonly uses ехать / пойти / выбраться / тянуть на природу / хочется на природу.

It does not literally mean something philosophical like into nature. In everyday speech it usually means:

• outdoors
• out to the countryside
• out somewhere natural, like a forest, lake, riverbank, or picnic area

So in this sentence it probably suggests a very familiar cultural image: barbecue, smoke, marinade, fresh air, maybe a dacha trip or picnic.

Снова means again. It shows that this desire returns.

So the idea is not just:

• I want to go outdoors

but:

• I want to go outdoors again
• that feeling comes back

It suggests that the smell repeatedly brings back the same urge or memory.

Yes, but the nuance would change.

For example:

• Когда я вспоминаю тот запах дыма и маринада, мне снова хочется на природу.

This means roughly:

• When I remember that smell of smoke and marinade, I want to go outdoors again.

That is perfectly understandable, but Стоит мне вспомнить ..., как ... is more expressive. It emphasizes how immediate and automatic the result is:

• the very moment I remember it, the feeling appears

So the original version is more vivid and idiomatic.

No. In this sentence, как is part of the fixed pattern Стоит ..., как ...

So it is not asking how, and it is not a comparison like like/as in the ordinary sense. In this structure, it functions more like:

• and then
• when immediately
• as soon as

You should learn the whole pattern together rather than interpreting как by itself.

It is a complex sentence with two linked parts:

1. Стоит мне вспомнить тот запах дыма и маринада

   • trigger
   • as soon as I remember that smell of smoke and marinade

2. как мне снова хочется на природу

   • result
   • I immediately feel like going outdoors again

So the logic is:

• trigger: recalling the smell
• result: desire to go out into nature

This trigger → immediate result structure is exactly what the Стоит ..., как ... pattern is used for.