Stinky food

[Jennifer Brizzi]

How about those foods that smell vile but are a dream for the taste buds, foods that disprove the notion that our senses of smell and taste are linked like Siamese twins? Consider durian fruit, pungent fish sauce, or an oozy French cheese at its peak just before it rots. What is your favorite thing that your nose despises as much as your mouth loves?

[Megan Blocker]

Sometimes, as it's just warming up, parm can smell like...um...vomit.

But, man, does it taste good.

[flowbee]

i have an obsession with "stinky tofu", which is a taiwanese dish that's basically fermented tofu that is deep fried. it's been compared to halitosis, foot odor, etc. i find it really delicious! when you put it in your mouth, the aroma wafts throughout your mouth and nose like a really nice cheese. it's so awesome.

couple links:

wikipedia

review/analysis

unfortunately it's been banned in my city, so i can't find it anywhere!

[Mike Hunt]

This post could probably be in a couple of threads, however, here goes .......

Has anyone ever tasted Durian ?

It's a fruit that looks like and is the same size of a partially inflated basketball with soft spikes.

It tastes devine when ripe but the problem is keeping the contents of your stomach in place as it smells like an open sewer basking in the sun.

Truely a culinary challenge.

[Megan Blocker]

This post could probably be in a couple of threads, however, here goes .......

Has anyone ever tasted Durian ?

It's a fruit that looks like and is the same size of a partially inflated basketball with soft spikes.

It tastes devine when ripe but the problem is keeping the contents of your stomach in place as it smells like an open sewer basking in the sun.

Truely a culinary challenge.

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I think that's one of the ones Jennifer mentioned upthread...I've never had one, though I'm wondering if the thing to do is just plug your nose till it's in your mouth?

[jeniac42]

They sell durian at one of the grocery stores around here. I am afraid to try it, although I did once have a pastry from a Chinese bakery with a durian filling, and found it to be OK though slightly... hm. Gasoline-tasting? It had a strange aroma that got up into the back of my sinuses and made me think it wasn't something I should be eating.

[Mike Hunt]

This post could probably be in a couple of threads, however, here goes .......

Has anyone ever tasted Durian ?

It's a fruit that looks like and is the same size of a partially inflated basketball with soft spikes.

It tastes devine when ripe but the problem is keeping the contents of your stomach in place as it smells like an open sewer basking in the sun.

Truely a culinary challenge.

←

I think that's one of the ones Jennifer mentioned upthread...I've never had one, though I'm wondering if the thing to do is just plug your nose till it's in your mouth?

←

Believe me that doesn't work.

The pulp is also a challenge because it's a bit slimey into the bargain.

I gagged twice before I managed to get it down

[petite tête de chou]

Blue cheese!

[Lilija]

Kimchee...smells like...what I would imagine an elevator filled with cabbage and flatulence in Hell would smell like. But man, it's so good.

Nuoc Mam, that fish sauce, pretty damn bad. Pretty damn tasty, even a little taste off a spoon is nice, salty, complex...if you can get the spoon close enough to your face.

[Pontormo]

One man' stinky is another woman's sublime, I suppose.

Can't think of much food that doesn't smell wonderful to someone healthy and not pregnant.

Mostly cheese.

Fish? Either you like it or you don't. I do. It's lingering smells long after dinner that annoy if not sicken.

Some folk are bothered by the smell of cabbage, especially sauerkraut. See comments about fish. I love just about anything with cabbage.

How about food you need to sniff to see if it's spoiled.

Do you stick your finger in, too? Eat it anyway? Just toss?

[Mike Hunt]

I thought the general maxim was if raw fish smelled like 'fish' it's not fresh and best avoided.

[Megan Blocker]

This post could probably be in a couple of threads, however, here goes .......

Has anyone ever tasted Durian ?

It's a fruit that looks like and is the same size of a partially inflated basketball with soft spikes.

It tastes devine when ripe but the problem is keeping the contents of your stomach in place as it smells like an open sewer basking in the sun.

Truely a culinary challenge.

←

I think that's one of the ones Jennifer mentioned upthread...I've never had one, though I'm wondering if the thing to do is just plug your nose till it's in your mouth?

←

Believe me that doesn't work.

The pulp is also a challenge because it's a bit slimey into the bargain.

I gagged twice before I managed to get it down

←

Eeeeeew...I believe you!!!!

[Pontormo]

In response to Mike Hunt, the post right before Megan Block's, regarding the smelly nature of fish or seafood that we're told, as shoppers, to interpret as a sign the item is not as fresh as can be:

Fish?...It's lingering smells long after dinner that annoy if not sicken.

←

Some people don't like the smell of fresh fish when it's cooking or just cooked.

Edited March 27, 2006 by Pontormo (log)

[flowbee]

about durian...i love it to death!

however, i gorged myself on it for a whole summer a couple years ago after being introduced/subjected to it. i'd bring one home every weekend...sadly, i think i burned myself out on it.

most of the ones available around here are from thailand, and they've been frozen. the frozen ones turn out really really creamy/custardy. the fresh (never been frozen) ones are harder to find, but the flesh is quite different...more firm. but it's still all stinky. the trick is to resist opening one until it's ripe. when it starts cracking open by itself, it's getting ripe

[Chris Amirault]

Just a few weeks ago, several of us opined about a particular category of stinky food in this footastic thread.

[Milagai]

Marmite / vegemite....

(I did acquire the taste though)

Milagai

Edited March 29, 2006 by Milagai (log)

[beandork]

japanese nato (spelling?) - stuff is fermented bean curd, I believe. The smell is remniscent of week-old sports underwear worn whilst having fungal problems and left in the locker to rot.

Apparently the taste is good and rather more-ish. I say apparently because I never got past the smell to eat it.

[flowbee]

Nato are fermented soy beans. They're whole beans that are fermented and come out all sticky and gooey. You're supposed to stir it up with chopsticks before you eat it, to increase the amount of gooey sticky threads. An acquired taste I almost like it...I buy it frozen in little individual serving-sized trays from Asian markets.

Edited April 1, 2006 by flowbee (log)

[WHS]

We had palm beer in India last month. The guy climbed up a palm tree and poured some liquid out of a clay pot where it had been fermenting in the sun. It tasted like spit. After the initial gag reflex and a couple of glasses, the buzz was quite nice.

[lannie]

most of the ones available around here are from thailand, and they've been frozen. the frozen ones turn out really really creamy/custardy. the fresh (never been frozen) ones are harder to find, but the flesh is quite different...more firm. but it's still all stinky. the trick is to resist opening one until it's ripe. when it starts cracking open by itself, it's getting ripe

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Oh, I do *love* durian, too! I often go into the Asian supermarket, hover over the fresh durians, and breathe in deeply. The aroma, to me, is delectable!

The Malaysian durians are very divine - they're not picked, but are allowed to naturally fall of the tree. When my Mum was a teen, she used to listen for the durians to drop, then rush out to the garden to pick them up!

I like durian when there is a firm 'skin' around the custardy pulp (have to 'break' it open with your teeth), and a slight bitterness to the flesh. Yes, the aftertaste can be like gasoline or a mix of garlic/onions; but, the joy of eating it is definitely worth the trouble! Just don't breathe on anyone!

Durian also tastes great if you freeze the sections - just like a custardy frozen treat!

Another stinky ingredient that I love is Belacan - fermented shrimp cakes/paste. Yum!

My friends and I agree that, in regards to food, the stinkier, the better!!!

[Hiroyuki]

Nato are fermented soy beans. They're whole beans that are fermented and come out all sticky and gooey. You're supposed to stir it up with chopsticks before you eat it, to increase the amount of gooey sticky threads. An acquired taste I almost like it...I buy it frozen in little individual serving-sized trays from Asian markets.

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Two people (eGullet members!) say here that natto tastes like coffee.

[beandork]

Two people (eGullet members!) say here that natto tastes like coffee.

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It would interesting to try one of their lattes

[Jujubee]

japanese nato (spelling?) - stuff is fermented bean curd, I believe. The smell is remniscent of week-old sports underwear worn whilst having fungal problems and left in the locker to rot.

Apparently the taste is good and rather more-ish. I say apparently because I never got past the smell to eat it.

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Funny, I never really had a problem with the smell. But the second I put that stuff in my mouth I immediately wanted to throw up, and that has truly never happened to me. As I am of the opinion that one should try everything once, I FORCED myself to swallow it, but it truly was one of the most difficult things I've ever done in my life. Every single fiber of my being wanted to force it out.

And I love stinky tofu! I love it so much that it no longer smells bad to me. When a hot order comes out of any restaurant kitchen I breathe deeply and enjoy.

[beandork]

I'm similar - I love my food weird and stinky, and I gladly accepted fish-eye from the same kitchen which offered me natto.

[eipi10]

Jennifer, your examples immediately came to mind. Epoisses is amazing, for instance, but most of my dormmates would think less of me for eating it. The first time I had durian, the Thai waitress asked me if I was sure and suggested something else. I thought it was great, but yeah, the smell is funky! The only other example I can think of is pungent Indian mixed pickle--yum!