Not long ago we were in a great southeast Asian restaurant in Manhattan called the Spice Market. The meal was fantastic. The dessert menus arrived and there was something on it that looked interesting… durian ice cream. Durian is a southeast Asian fruit that has been said to have a “distinct” smell. I hadn’t had durian before, and I like trying new foods, so I ordered it.

The waitress asked me if I had had durian before, and I said no. In the most polite way she could manage, she urged me to consider any other dessert on the menu. She continued by saying that it’s only recommended for people who have tried it before, and that that people should try durian for the first time elsewhere. Unmoved, I ordered it.

It arrived in a chinese takeout box, the reason for which I quickly discovered was to prevent nausea among the other patrons. Now you really have to try hard to smell ice cream, but not this stuff. I’ve eaten things that smell bad and taste good, so I took a bite.
Now those who know me well (or strangers who see me) know that there aren’t many foods I don’t like. But one bite of this and I almost wretched. It was the most vile substance ever served. I shit you not, it smelled like a volcanic sulfur vent, and tasted like what I imagine untreated sewage would taste like.

Today I looked the fruit up on Wikipedia and here’s what I found:

Due to the fruit’s strong odour, it is forbidden to bring durians as hand luggage onto aircraft belonging to some airlines, to carry them on the Singapore public transit system, or to store or eat them in many hotels.

Some Westerners have described the experience of eating the durian as “like eating custard in a public lavatory”

Too true.