# Things you eat despite their taste or smell. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 19, 2009, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-eat-despite-their-taste-or-smell/496978 "2009-05-19T16:23:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2009, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-eat-despite-their-taste-or-smell/496978/21 "2009-05-20T00:09:01Z")
> [@omgzebras](#): > > [Durian](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Durian) is supposed to have a pretty wretched stench but lots of people eat it anyway. I’ve never even seen one in real life so I don’t know if I’d be brave enough to ignore the smell and give it a taste. Watching Andrew Zimmern of Bizarre Foods take a mouthful of durian, then spit it out gagging, made me decide to not try it. After all, I’ve seen Andrew eat and relish the taste of freshly clotted blood, stir-fried bat with the hair still on it, sardinian maggot cheese, and herring guts. Personally, I enjoy limburger, brick cheese, and stinky tofu. ---
**Author:** ![River\_Hippie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/river_hippie/32/26_2.png) [@River\_Hippie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/River_Hippie)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2009, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-eat-despite-their-taste-or-smell/496978/22 "2009-05-20T00:13:07Z")
+1 on sauerkraut. It smells bad but I eat it fairly often in the summer with bratwurst or Italian sausage. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2009, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-eat-despite-their-taste-or-smell/496978/23 "2009-05-20T00:27:37Z")
My own cooking! 😃 Onions, garlic, cabbage and the like - the smell stays in the house for days and I hear complaints, but I cook that stuff early in the day and open the windows ---
**Author:** ![bleu\_ewe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc79bd/32.png) [@bleu\_ewe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bleu_ewe)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2009, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-eat-despite-their-taste-or-smell/496978/24 "2009-05-20T00:31:22Z")
Black currants. They smell like when a male cat marks, but they’re also ridiculously delicious. It’s very conflicting. ---
**Author:** ![myskepticsight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/cc9497/32.png) [@myskepticsight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/myskepticsight)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2009, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-eat-despite-their-taste-or-smell/496978/25 "2009-05-20T00:32:56Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > Watching Andrew Zimmern of Bizarre Foods take a mouthful of durian, then spit it out gagging, made me decide to not try it. > > After all, I’ve seen Andrew eat and relish the taste of freshly clotted blood, stir-fried bat with the hair still on it, sardinian maggot cheese, and herring guts. > > Personally, I enjoy limburger, brick cheese, and stinky tofu. I’ve watched Bourdain happily scoop out the edible parts of durian and chow down. He commented on the stank ass smell but IIRC he enjoys eating it. ---
**Author:** ![Bravo\_Romeo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e8c25b/32.png) [@Bravo\_Romeo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bravo_Romeo)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2009, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-eat-despite-their-taste-or-smell/496978/26 "2009-05-20T01:43:25Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > Watching Andrew Zimmern of Bizarre Foods take a mouthful of durian, then spit it out gagging, made me decide to not try it. > > After all, I’ve seen Andrew eat and relish the taste of freshly clotted blood, stir-fried bat with the hair still on it, sardinian maggot cheese, and herring guts. > > Personally, I enjoy limburger, brick cheese, and stinky tofu. I picked up a durian in the produce section the other day and explained what it was to a few of my friends. I then smelt it myself and loudly gagged… I was reminded of sewage. Physically, it looks like some sort of medieval anti-horse tool of defence. ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2009, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-eat-despite-their-taste-or-smell/496978/27 "2009-05-20T03:16:28Z")
Stout ---
**Author:** ![Savannah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b3f665/32.png) [@Savannah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Savannah)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2009, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-eat-despite-their-taste-or-smell/496978/28 "2009-05-20T03:56:50Z")
I love peanut butter toast, but only if I’m eating it. If someone else is eating peanut butter toast, the smell of it grosses me out. ---
**Author:** ![Mangosteen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Mangosteen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangosteen)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2009, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-eat-despite-their-taste-or-smell/496978/29 "2009-05-20T04:36:17Z")
> [@Blazric Jones](#): > > I picked up a durian in the produce section the other day and explained what it was to a few of my friends. I then smelt it myself and loudly gagged… I was reminded of sewage. > > Physically, it looks like some sort of medieval anti-horse tool of defence. Yes, but it tastes great and the smell isn’t that bad. People hear how bad it smells and won’t give a chance. Its not something I would eat every day, but whenever its on sale at the local Chinese markets here in southern California, my wife gets me one. (She’s Chinese and won’t eat it.) ---
**Author:** ![Mangosteen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Mangosteen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangosteen)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2009, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-eat-despite-their-taste-or-smell/496978/30 "2009-05-20T04:40:54Z")
I think Peyote is a great example. The taste will be the worst thing you have ever eaten (by far!), but the special effects later are well worth it. (Not that I would ever encourage anyone to try it!) ---
**Author:** ![Gorgonzola](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e480ec/32.png) [@Gorgonzola](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorgonzola)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2009, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-eat-despite-their-taste-or-smell/496978/31 "2009-05-20T05:31:42Z")
> [@vivalostwages](#): > > Echoing the blue cheese sentiment. Gorgonzola and Double Gloucester with Stilton are quite smelly, but really tasty. Well! I never. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2009, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-eat-despite-their-taste-or-smell/496978/32 "2009-05-20T06:01:58Z")
> [@Mangosteen](#): > > Yes, but it tastes great and the smell isn’t that bad. People hear how bad it smells and won’t give a chance. Its not something I would eat every day, but whenever its on sale at the local Chinese markets here in southern California, my wife gets me one. (She’s Chinese and won’t eat it.) I’m convinced that durian is one of those foods that some people simply can’t taste. When I lived in the Philippines and in Indonesia, I tried it and it wasn’t sweet tasting at all to me. My wife likes it okay and a colleague would buy half a dozen and eat it with relish. They described it as tasting like pudding, but not to me. I think for some people it doesn’t have the same taste, like how cilantro tastes like soap to some people. ---
**Author:** ![Race\_Harley](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ecccb3/32.png) [@Race\_Harley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Race_Harley)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2009, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-eat-despite-their-taste-or-smell/496978/33 "2009-05-20T06:14:15Z")
> [@Rigamarole](#): > > Vagina. Bingo! I think we have a winner! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2009, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-eat-despite-their-taste-or-smell/496978/34 "2009-05-20T06:18:07Z")
Red Bull or Jagerrmeister by themselves. They have to be mixed. ---
**Author:** ![vivalostwages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d07c76/32.png) [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2009, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-eat-despite-their-taste-or-smell/496978/35 "2009-05-20T14:18:11Z")
> [@Gorgonzola](#): > > Well! I never. But…but…you’re so delicious. ---
**Author:** ![Lightray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightray/32/391_2.png) [@Lightray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightray)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2009, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-eat-despite-their-taste-or-smell/496978/36 "2009-05-20T14:48:06Z")
Roast cauliflower. I eat it despite it’s smell (while roasting) and it’s (unroasted) taste. Either are gagworthy, but once roasted it’s crunchy yumminess. … and then I have to air out the house for a day, 'cause it smells like mercaptan and hydrogen sulfide. (or, as I like to call that smell, “work”.) ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2009, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-eat-despite-their-taste-or-smell/496978/37 "2009-05-20T15:22:36Z")
> [@Lightray](#): > > … and then I have to air out the house for a day, 'cause it smells like mercaptan Hey! :eek: Oh, um. Never mind. ---
**Author:** ![Telperien](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/65b543/32.png) [@Telperien](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telperien)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2009, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-eat-despite-their-taste-or-smell/496978/38 "2009-05-20T15:28:01Z")
I love salt and vinegar potato chips, but the smell of some of them will knock out a bull at twenty paces. I also don’t know what’s so bad about the smell or taste of vagina. The only ones I encountered that smelled bad (I wasn’t going to taste them after that) resulted from infections. Either you’re making a poor joke or you’re letting yourself in for unnecessary grossness. ---
**Author:** ![Carl\_Corey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Carl\_Corey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carl_Corey)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2009, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-eat-despite-their-taste-or-smell/496978/39 "2009-05-20T19:53:03Z")
> [@Rigamarole](#): > > Vagina. Don’t you mean risotto? ---
**Author:** ![Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troy_mcclure_sf/32/4150_2.png) [@Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Troy_McClure_SF)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2009, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-eat-despite-their-taste-or-smell/496978/40 "2009-05-20T20:34:23Z")
I think JitB’s Ultimate Cheeseburgers smell absolutely disgusting, but I do like them every so often. Understandably, that last point is debatable. Trader Joe’s makes these awesome rice/bean/corn tortilla chips (named something like “identity crisis”) that my roommate swears smells like dog food. I disgree on that, but one of my suitemates at work makes some kind of tea or soup that smells exactly like Pedigree canned dog food. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-eat-despite-their-taste-or-smell/496978.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-eat-despite-their-taste-or-smell/496978.md?page=3)