Durian Vs Vegemite

Travel. Food. Southeast Asia. Australia.

Love or Hate? Blame Your Hippocampus

While on local holiday a month ago, an odor wafted through our campsite. Gas leak? Dead animal knocking over a trash bin while farting sulfur? No such luck. We recognised the smell. The family one site over was enjoying an after-dinner delight.

Moments later, two women approached our tent from downwind. “Can you smell that? Have you checked your bbq and gas fittings? We smell a gas leak and are trying to track it down.”

“It’s not a gas leak.”

“What?”

“It’s durian.”

A tentative link to a travel blog, I know, but you have to travel to Australia or Southeast Asia to try these popular delicacies, so it counts. Plus, travel is an adventure, so depending on how adventurous you are, consider this a warning or a challenge.

Straight up, I dislike both foods with a turn-and-run loathing. But, just like when I tried durian and Vegemite, I will try to swallow my bias — and keep it down.

Most Australians love Vegemite. It’s a daily staple. The only reason you’ll find a jar outside of Australia is because Australians travel. If you’re not Australian, it will sit on the shelf for years. But that’s no problem, it’s Vegemite.

The fruit, durian, finds its lovers in Southeast Asia — mainly Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, and Indonesia — and their love for it can be as strong as the smell. It’s a treat they’ve even turned into an ice cream flavour and added to chocolate.

The one thing both foods have in common? The smell; you never forget the stink.

The fruit is sought and delighted in by the locals. They crave it, finding it savoury, sweet, and creamy like custard.

I find the fruit a trifecta. It looks ugly on the outside and horrid as sin on the inside. The smell is repugnant and sewer gassy. The taste is fetid, and it put me off custard.

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