What's the worst smelling thing that you would willingly ingest?

[OpalCat]

Inspired by my recent question about why Valerian smells so bad...

I take Valerian capsules every night to help me sleep. They smell like Satan's asshole. They smell STRONG. They're so strong that my hands smell bad after taking them and I have to go wash my hands. And yet, every night I put them in my mouth and swallow them.

What stenchtastic things are you willing to put in your mouth?

[hogarth]

I've eaten stinky tofu (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stinky_tofu) and durian (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Durian), and neither of those smell like roses, so to speak.

I assume that I'd take life-saving medicine no matter how bad it smelled. In theory.

[otternell]

Bad smells make me gag. the strong vitamin smell from multi-vitamins can make me gag (I hold my breath to actually get them down of course). I cannot eat stinky things.

[janis_and_c0]

Penicillin and Parmesan cheese

[HeyHomie]

I have vague memories of reading somewhere about a wedding tradition in France. Apparently on the morning after the wedding the bride and groom drink a concoction of chocolate and champagne that smells indescribably terrible but tastes delicious.

I wish I knew more about this tradition -- I'd love to try it.

[clairobscur]

I'd really like to try this durian thing I heard so often about on this board.

[clairobscur]

I have vague memories of reading somewhere about a wedding tradition in France. Apparently on the morning after the wedding the bride and groom drink a concoction of chocolate and champagne that smells indescribably terrible but tastes delicious.

I wish I knew more about this tradition -- I'd love to try it.



Drank from a chamber pot, from what I read/heard somewhere. Never heard of someone actually doing that, though.

[alice_in_wonderland]

I've eating some delicious but nasty smelling french cheese before, and I'll do it again happily.

Seriously, I purchased the cheese, put it in my car and then went in a shop to purchase a gift (I was attending a Wine & Cheese shower). 30 minutes later when I returned to my car it REEKED like dirty feet, but damn was that cheese tasty.

[wolf in second hand clothing]

I think raw honey smells like feet, but tastes just fine.

[Zsofia]

We get smells-like-feet cheese from a Trappist monastery every Christmas. Tastes great, but man does it reek.

[Two Many Cats]

Stinky cheese.

There's a wine and cheese place on Michigan Avenue called Eno's that I've been to a couple of times. I had often heard that cheese that smells bad tastes great. They had a sampler of their more odoriforous cheeses, and that's what I chose.

Well. I only remember one of the three cheeses offered, and not by name. It smelled honestly something like shit. Not exactly like shit. But something that reminded me of shit.

No problem, right? It ought to taste like heaven, right? Here's the thing, in a story like this the cheese should either give me an orgasm, or make me vomit in front of everyone.

It did neither. It was strictly meh. I would not order it again.

And I didn't even get a good story to tell out of it. For a cheese that smells like shit that's really lame.

[carnut]

Durian. Wow, does it smell bad. But I rather like the taste.

[Peremensoe]

Asafoetida (hing, a.k.a devil's dung...seriously) by itself is pretty awful, but I eat it in certain dishes. I don't even cook with it myself except by using prepared spice blends, which isn't at all the way I cook. But I'm not keeping that stuff around in pure form.

[Mangetout]

Stinky cheese. My kids started calling it 'outdoor cheese' for a while (because they wanted me to go outdoors with it to open/eat it)

[elfkin477]

I take Valerian capsules every night to help me sleep. A tie between a relax and sleep supplement that contains Valerian, and Cramp Bark (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viburnum_opulus#Cultivation_and_uses).

[Alessan]

Cheese. Any cheese. I'd even eat that Sardinian maggot cheese if I could get some.

[BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed]

Is this about what we think smells bad, or what other people do? Because I don't think I've eaten anything that I thought smelled bad and liked it. I don't think moldy blue cheese smells bad, or pig guts, or stinky tofu, and I love those things. But licorice smells like a candy cane ice picked into your brain via your sinuses, and I can't even think about putting the crap into my mouth.

[Panurge]

Surströmming and hákarl have been the worst so far. I don't think they can be topped.

[Floater]

There's nothing wrong with surströmming.

[Panurge]

Nothing wrong with it, but the smell is foul. I opened the tin 12 meters from the house and my wife still wouldn't stop complaining.

[Ponch8]

Fish sauce (on Thai or Vietnamese food)

[panache45]

I'll eat any kind of cheese, no matter how bad it smells. Except limburger, which tastes as foul as it smells.

[WOOKINPANUB]

I guess I'd have to say crab. And even that I won't cook in my own house anymore.

[Two Many Cats]

Fish sauce (on Thai or Vietnamese food)

Are you speaking of Nuoc Nam sauce? Because that doesn't stink. It just smells like fish.

[silenus]

Stinky cheese. I have had some Stilton that took weeks to move out of the house, smell-wise.

[The Second Stone]

Roquefort.

[Cyclone]

Liederkranz cheese

Their slogan used to be "Once past your nose it tastes great."

[Autolycus]

I had a fish taco once that was a bit past its prime. But, I paid for it so I felt obligated to eat it. Well, actually I had a 'coupon' so it was free. In any case it was...difficult.

[Ruby]

Pickled herring is one of my faves. It's the one and only time NO ONE will kiss me. :(

[carnut]

Pickled herring is one of my faves. It's the one and only time NO ONE will kiss me. :(

Now that is one thing I won't put in my mouth. I grew up downwind of the pickled herring factory. It was pretty evil on a hot summer day. My memory won't let me even try it.

My mother loves it though.

[Two Many Cats]

I loooovvvve pickled herring.

I never noticed its smell. I guess I would if I lived downwind of the factory.

[cmyk]

I guess garlic. Kind of a boring answer, and while I can appreciate the aroma, it comes with bad childhood luggage (see here (http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=14016858&postcount=51)). Still, now that I've grown accustom to the house filled with the smell of garlic when some of my favorite foods are being prepared, and learned that the smell = awesomeosity! -- there's still that cringing boy, recoiling in the recesses of my mind; under my mind-furniture.

Having deep Sicilian ancestry and family makes this unpopular to admit. ;)

[RoeCocoa]

The smell of ketchup nauseates me, but comfort food wouldn't be the same without it. Most fermented condiments smell nasty in quantity but taste good when applied in reasonable amounts. Soy sauce. Vinegar. Marmite.

I like the smell of garlic, but I don't like the way it makes me or other people smell after eating it.

[Full Metal Lotus]

Durian Fruit - frozen, sliced thin and then mixed with Vanillia ice cream. Actaully freezing seems to reduce its odour signifigantly.
Lutefisk... I love it, but my wife says it smells like primitively preserved, half fermented fish. I explain to her that it is exactly that. Then I brush my teeth for 10 minutes if I want any kisses.
Veitnamese fish paste.. an ingrediant in Pho` (Noodle soup). One brand smells soooo bad but, it makes the nicest soup and the smell disapears as soon as it hits the boiling water. It smells bad, like low tide, on a hot day. Yrs ago my cat (sorry no pic) came into the kitchen while I had some open. I lowered the open jar down to moggy's nose level - it took one sniff and back up, crouched and staring at me as if to say "You are gonna eat THAT!!??"

[randomface]

I bought some Gruyere cheese that I thought smelled very foul. I don't know how it ranks on the foul cheese scale, but that's about as far as I can go. It tasted pretty good though. Don't know if it was worth it.

[OpalCat]

Keep in mind that this thread is not just for things that smell bad but taste good, but also for things that are vile that you have some other reason to ingest, such as my Valerian capsules in the OP.

[carnut]

Keep in mind that this thread is not just for things that smell bad but taste good, but also for things that are vile that you have some other reason to ingest, such as my Valerian capsules in the OP.

Well, that would be the aquarium water you have to drink before having a colonoscopy. My father gave it the name and it has really stuck in everyone's heads. Even my doc has taken to the description.

[BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed]

Keep in mind that this thread is not just for things that smell bad but taste good, but also for things that are vile that you have some other reason to ingest, such as my Valerian capsules in the OP.

I guess most people would pretty much ingest anything willingly if there were a good enough reason for it. If the medicine you needed to save your life tasted like pig shit, there probably wouldn't be too many people who'd turn it down.

Or are you looking for things that people do willingly ingest, rather than would?

[Siam Sam]

Are you speaking of Nuoc Nam sauce? Because that doesn't stink. It just smells like fish.

I see someone has never been to a town in Vietnam that manufactures the stuff. Let's just say there is a certain air about the place.

[OpalCat]

I guess most people would pretty much ingest anything willingly if there were a good enough reason for it. If the medicine you needed to save your life tasted like pig shit, there probably wouldn't be too many people who'd turn it down.

Or are you looking for things that people do willingly ingest, rather than would?

Do, have, would reasonably expect to, etc.

[Floater]

Lutefisk...
Honestly, I have never been able to understand why people complain about it. It doesn't smell anything special.

[RoeCocoa]

In the spirit of the OP but not to the letter: sumatriptan succinate tablets. They have no aroma, but the taste screams "you shouldn't have eaten that" and lingers for hours. Then there's the side effects. Still better than a migraine.

[Clothahump]

I've eaten stinky tofu (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stinky_tofu) and durian (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Durian), and neither of those smell like roses, so to speak.
+1 on the durian. I got turned onto it when I lived in Indonesia. It tastes like heaven and smells like hell.

[awldune]

Fish sauce (on Thai or Vietnamese food)

IMHO it smells almost exactly like diarrhea. Pretty tasty, though.

I loathe the vitamin B tablets in the brewer's yeast base. Not only do they smell and taste terrible, you continue to smell and taste them for hours.

[brittekland]

Inspired by my recent question about why Valerian smells so bad...

I take Valerian capsules every night to help me sleep. They smell like Satan's asshole. They smell STRONG. They're so strong that my hands smell bad after taking them and I have to go wash my hands. And yet, every night I put them in my mouth and swallow them.

What stenchtastic things are you willing to put in your mouth?

The smell of cleaning/cooking tripe probably is the worst thing I'd say. Can't even describe what it smells like (just as "Satan's asshole" might not have a paralleling smell). I've had it thinly sliced and mixed in with other ingredients in soups without knowing what they are. They have chewy texture and don't have much of taste.


I guess no one here is willing to venture to non-food region... yet.

[Ruby]

Honestly, I have never been able to understand why people complain about it. It doesn't smell anything special.It just tastes like ass. Ugh.

[Ruby]

I loooovvvve pickled herring.I think I love you.

[Patty O'Furniture]

I'm sorry, I can't eat anything that stinks. If it doesn't pass the smell test, it doesn't go in.

[OpalCat]

Not just about things you eat. I don't "eat" my Valerian supplements, I just swallow them as quickly as possible.

[jnglmassiv]

Off the top of my head, I've had the following stinky foods:
fish sauce,
fermented crab and shrimp pastes,
thousand year old eggs,
durian,
natto,
assorted smelly cheeses.

[Siam Sam]

Thinking back, the smelliest substances I have personally ingested would be durian -- and don't believe what people tell you about it "tasting like heaven"; it's even worse than it smells -- and pla ra, a fermented fish dish specific to northeastern Thailand. Both of them horrible substances.

These days, I would not be willing to ingest anything more smelly than particular types of cheese.

[Hyperelastic]

Once I ate a teaspoon of Liquid Smoke on a dare. A few drops dispersed in food gives that hearty, barbecued flavor, but straight from the bottle it smells like something you'd drain from the bottom of a stove. Everything else I ate for the next three days tasted like it had been smoked.

[BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed]

Everything else I ate for the next three days tasted like it had been smoked.

That sounds amazing-- smoked everything!!

[Art Rock]

I've eaten stinky tofu (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stinky_tofu) and durian (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Durian), and neither of those smell like roses, so to speak.

Same here. What's more, I really enjoy stinking tofu.

[Floater]

Thinking back, the smelliest substances I have personally ingested would be durian -- and don't believe what people tell you about it "tasting like heaven";
A friend of mine once said that eating durian is like eating pineapple standing in a urinal that hasn't been cleaned during the last thirty years.

[kenner116]

Chou doufu a.k.a. stinky tofu at a Taiwanese night market. It somehow manages to taste worse than it smells, so I couldn't imagine ever finishing even a small serving. But I will accomplish this someday.

I've only had durian in bubble tea and ice cream form. The ice cream smell and taste was very mild and acceptable, while the bubble tea smelled horrible and tasted even worse. I had my mind set on finishing it, but only managed to drink 10% of the cup. I was carrying it around for the next hour or so, until I got home and dumped it (saving the bubbles, of course).