Have you ever walked past a dish that made your nose wrinkle? Later on, you discover that it’s actually a well-loved delicacy by many people. The relationship between smell and taste is complex, and sometimes the most “smelly” foods can deliver the best flavors. Yup, we’re talking about the fermented classics and aged cheeses that your nose tags as unappetizing. Today, we’re bringing you 10 of these foods to prove that you shouldn’t judge a food by its scent.
10. Vegemite
If you have been to Australia, chances are you’ve encountered the Vegemite spread. It’s a dark and thick paste made from brewed b*er. The smell can be overwhelming, but it’s a loved spread for buttered toast. Expect the taste to be salty with notes of beef broth and soy sauce.
9. Kimchi
Traveling to Korea, you’ll see the fermented Kimchi. It’s a Korean delicacy that’s served in every meal they have. They have quite a pungent smell due to the fermentation with fish sauce. The smell actually intensifies as Kimchi ages, which is why they’re stored in a separate refrigerator. Since it mixes sour and umami tastes from the fermented vegetables, it offers a flavor that might be new to your palate.
8. Century Egg
There’s a reason why Century Egg has such a pungent aroma: to make tastier eggs. It features a strong ammonia and sulfur scent due to its earthy aroma. The preservation process involves coating fresh eggs with clay, ash, and salt and letting them age for weeks to months. This alkaline-like environment creates its dark appearance and the intense smell.
7. Fish Sauce
If you enjoy a lot of Asia dishes, then you’ve gotta thank Fish Sauce for that. As expected, it has a fishy smell, and it involves layering of fish in sea salt for 12-18 months. Still, Fish Sauce is a secret ingredient that adds umami to many Asian dishes, such as those from Vietnam and Thailand.
6. Limburger Cheese
If you’ve heard or seen Limburger Cheese, then you’d know that this German cheese tastes like sweaty feet or barnyard animals. It’s because of the bacteria called Brevibacterium linens that are usually found on human skin. But behind that pungent scent, it has a creamy and surprisingly mild flavor comparable to mushrooms.
5. Stinky Tofu
This Taiwanese street food delicacy smells like a combination of garbage and sewage. It’s all thanks to months of fermentation in a brine containing vegetables, meat, and dried shrimp. The fermentation process can take anywhere from several weeks to several months, and the longer it ferments, the stronger the smell becomes. Some vendors have secret family recipes for their brine that have been passed down for generations.
4. Surströmming
Considered one of the world’s smelliest foods, this Swedish delicacy undergoes months of fermentation that creates an almost unbearable smell of rotten fish and ammonia. The fermentation process begins with Baltic herring that’s caught in spring when the fish has the right fat content, then salted and left to ferment for at least six months. The smell is so intense that surströmming is typically opened outdoors.
3. Camembert
This French soft cheese has a scent of a combination of wet socks and barnyard animals when they ripen. Despite its aroma, Camembert is a rich and buttery-like cheese that’s perfect to spread on crusty bread or crackers. Also, the cheese is protected by AOC (Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée) status in France, ensuring that authentic Camembert de Normandie is made only in specific regions using traditional methods.
2. Asafoetida
This spice is known as “devil’s dung” for its sulfurous, garlicky smell that resembles rotten eggs mixed with onions and rubber. Asafoetida is a resin spice extracted from the roots of Ferula plants. The smell is so potent that it must be stored in airtight containers to prevent it from contaminating other spices. The resin has been used in Indian cooking for over 2,000 years and was once so valuable that it was traded along the Silk Road like gold.
1. Durian
Often banned from hotels and public transportation across Southeast Asia, durian’s smell has been described as a mix of rotting onions, turpentine, and raw sewage. Yet those brave enough to try it discover a creamy, custard-like texture with complex flavors ranging from sweet vanilla to savory garlic, with hints of almond and caramel. That alone is the reason why this spiky fruit’s flavor is rich.