The Popular Asian Fruit Bobby Flay Doesn't Even Want To Be In The Same Room With

You might expect celebrity chefs would have broader palates than the rest of us. After all, food is their life (or at least their career) so they have to embrace it all, don't they? Ehh, not so much. Gordon Ramsay has been vocal in his disdain for pineapple pizza, while Julia Child couldn't tolerate cilantro, and Guy Fieri is no fan of eggs. Bobby Flay's bête noire, however, is something a bit more uncommon, at least in the United States. As he told People in a 2019 interview, he simply can't stand durian. As he described the fruit, "It's awful; I don't want to be around it."

Durian is a tropical fruit that grows predominantly in Southeast Asia. There are a few durian trees currently growing in Florida, fresh durian can occasionally be found at Costco, and frozen durian is sometimes offered at other grocery stores, but the fruit really isn't that popular here for one simple reason: it stinks. Freezing can significantly reduce the odor for which this fruit is notorious (the smell of durian has often been compared to garbage, sweaty socks, or a gas leak). Flay didn't elaborate on the reason why he dislikes the fruit, but it seems likely the smell is a contributing factor since why else wouldn't he want to be in the same room?

The popular narrative about durian is that it smells terrible but tastes amazing, so is Bobby Flay just missing out on account of overly sensitive olfaction? Perhaps, but it's not just the odor that makes durian so challenging. The fruit has a hard, spiky exterior that one Redditor speculates "could literally kill you if you smacked it in someone's face." Once you manage to cut it open (a process that can be pretty difficult without practice), you may or may not find the flavor to your liking.

It seems everything about durian is polarizing. Flay has plenty of company among fellow durian haters, but others can't get enough of it. One person on the aforementioned Reddit thread described giving the fruit to two of his neighbors, one of whom was nauseated by it while the other one quite liked it. As they summed up the experience, "Haven't seen such a dichotomous response for other fruits before!" Some find the taste to be reminiscent of vanilla, peaches, or mango, while others taste notes of garlic and onion. 

One YouTuber called durian "a vanilla milkshake trashcan." He went on to caveat with, "It's weird, but I love it." Another Redditor, while acknowledging the controversy, also weighed in on the pro side: "I know durian is divisive, but for me it's hands down probably one of the best fruits one could get."