An Instagram post of Swedish-based travel influencer Karim Bukhadurov sparked outrage as she made a video about Sweden’s Disgusting Foods Museum, where the durian fruit is ranked as the 17th most disgusting food.
The fruit , which is especially popular in Asia also has the nickname the King of Fruits and is known for its distinctive and overpowering smell. For this reason the fruit is also forbidden in public transportation and other public spaces in many Asian countries.
On Instagram a debate took place on whether the ranking of the durian was culturally insensitive and overlooks the culinary heritage of the fruit and some even called the the museum an eurocentric invention. Others where simply surprised over seeing a normal food from their own country on display.
But those debates are exactly what the museum hopes for, according to the curator, as the museum tries to showcase how food culture is conditioned upon us and based on, what we know from childhood. The museum’s website states, that while some find the durian aroma sweet, it smells like rotting onions, unwashed socks or even dead animals to others.
Other foods on display from the region include century eggs, worms, smelly tofu bat soup and bull penis. European foods are also presented, such as Sweden’s infamous fermented herring Surströmning or Casu Marzu from Sardinia, which is cheese infested with live maggots.
The dishes are prepared at the museum, and visitors are encouraged to taste them.
Source: Thaiger
