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Comment by tyingq | Hacker News Reader

I'm repulsed by durian. It smells like a dumpster on a hot day to me. But apparently people really do like it, versus just eating it as some sort of social signal. Maybe it's like the cilantro thing where some people are genetically prone to think it tastes like soap?

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I’d never heard of cilantro tasting like soap. Had to look that up:

https://www.britannica.com/story/why-does-cilantro-taste-lik...

Thanks for teaching me something new.

To me, coriander leaves smell like stinkbugs. Soap would actually be a great improvement.

Interesting, I quite like Durian. I think it smells like a gas leak (which isn’t per se “disgusting”), but tastes pretty good.

I was under the impression gas leaks are supposed to be foul smelling, since the gas itself doesn't have an odor, and they add a foul-smelling additive for safety purposes.

At least to me, durian has a sulfur smell, but it’s not strong and not that different from say cooked broccoli.

To me it’s like a strong creamy cheese. But I could see how some people find it unappetizing.

I can’t stand jackfruit any more. I used to love it, but now it just smells like the fake lemon smell of soap.

Gas (or rather the additive we talk about here) itself also does not smell "foul" to me. Intense and very distinct, but not foul, or disgusting.

There are two types of durians. One which is supposed to be eaten as a fruit when ripe, other which is supposed to be cooked into a dish when raw. When used for the wrong purpose, they taste horrible. Otherwise, the ripe fruit of right variety is sweet, and the dish of the right variety tastes acceptable.

Oh my I looooove durian! To the point that it is difficult for me to understand why one wouldn't like it.

But many people don't like it indeed, so I must accept this as a fact.

It really does smell like rotting meat to me, and smell is very intertwined with taste for me. Though I do like some pungent things, like sardines. I can't explain it either ¯\_(ツ)_/¯.

I grew up in Southeast Asia and durian never smelled bad to me. Pungent and strong, yes, but not bad. It definitely does not remind me of a dumpster.

kinda like the perfumed armpits of a hot chick

To me it tastes nice and creamy, with hints of rotten onion on a hot day.

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