Smelliest Foods

What do you think is the smelliest food in the world? Vote and let your disgusted, and possibly slightly intrigued, voice be heard.

The official voting period has ended. See the results below.


Beef tartare
Beef tartare
Vote

Nope, your dad didn't forget to put the burger on the grill. That's how you eat it. Oh, but first, let's add a raw egg. There, perfect.

vs

Matchups
Remaining:

36of36

Skip Matchup
Bat paste
Bat paste
Vote

You know it, I know it, Ace Ventura knows it: this is just bat poop. Delicious, nutritious bat poop.

Start Over

Total Votes: 11,900

Score = wins / total matches  (recalculated every 5 minutes)

The Results

  • 1.
    Stink heads
    76%
  • 2.
    Century egg
    67%
  • 3.
    Jellied Moose Nose
    65%
  • 4.
    Haggis
    64%
  • 5.
    Surstromming
    61%
  • 6.
    Bat paste
    61%
  • 7.
    Cazu Marzu
    59%
  • 8.
    Durian fruit
    57%
  • 9.
    Lutefisk
    56%
  • 10.
    Chitterlings
    56%
  • 11.
    Escamoles
    55%
  • 12.
    Shiokara
    53%
  • 13.
    Bird spit
    52%
  • 14.
    Gefilte fish
    51%
  • 15.
    Noni fruit
    50%
  • 16.
    Tongue
    50%
  • 17.
    Limburger Cheese
    49%
  • 18.
    Rolmops
    49%
  • 19.
    Kopi Luwak
    48%
  • 20.
    Rakfisk
    47%
  • 21.
    Anchovies
    47%
  • 22.
    Potted meat
    47%
  • 23.
    Black pudding
    47%
  • 24.
    Sea slugs
    46%
  • 25.
    Epoisses de Bourgogne Cheese
    45%
  • 26.
    Belachan
    45%
  • 27.
    Liver
    45%
  • 28.
    Escargot
    43%
  • 29.
    Blue cheese
    43%
  • 30.
    Beef tartare
    42%
  • 31.
    Scrapple
    38%
  • 32.
    Boiled cabbage
    37%
  • 33.
    Oysters
    29%
  • 34.
    Mayonnaise
    28%
  • 35.
    Broccoli rabe
    28%
  • 36.
    Olives
    25%
  • 37.
    Pickles
    25%
  • 20.
    Rakfisk
    Rakfisk

    Really, I’m not sure what’s going on in Norway, but if you ever visit friends over there be prepared for a lot of fish. This one in particular is a real delight: it is eaten raw after sitting in its own juices for a few months. Delicious.

  • 19.
    Kopi Luwak
    Kopi Luwak

    This is the world’s most expensive coffee for a reason--in order for it to be brewed, the beans have to be eaten and digested by a cute little animal. Yep, it’s poop coffee. Can’t you just imagine that aromatic brew greeting you and your morning donut??

  • 18.
    Rolmops
    Rolmops

    Take a handful of the food on this list--herring, olives, pickles--and roll it around a big slice of onion, which we know makes everything taste better, and you've got the best sounding lunch ever.

  • 17.
    Limburger Cheese
    Limburger Cheese

    This cheese has the same bacteria we humans use to make all our awesome body odor, and sits around in it for 3 months before being served. It’s basically like hooking up with that one kid at camp who spent the whole summer not showering--in cheese-form. Enjoy!

  • 16.
    Tongue
    Tongue

    I'd love a hot tongue sandwich, if you know what I mean. Oh that? No, I absolutely did not mean that.

  • 15.
    Noni fruit
    Noni fruit

    Good for keeping you alive with its nutritional value, if you can keep it down. This fruit is also known as “vomit fruit” for its strong smell and bitter taste.

  • 14.
    Gefilte fish
    Gefilte fish

    Some people believe that fish are not subject to the "evil eye" because they are under water. Anyone who has gotten a whiff of this fish dinner knows better.

  • 13.
    Bird spit
    Bird spit

    They try to dress it up by calling it “bird’s nest soup” and charging you a fortune to eat it, but the key ingredient is genuine bird spit. Apparently when you get rich, you only eat the most disgusting things on earth BECAUSE YOU CAN.

  • 12.
    Shiokara
    Shiokara

    This is like a soup made of anchovies... The day after you ate them.

  • 11.
    Escamoles
    Escamoles

    "Insect caviar"--two words that when separate sound like pretty gross things to eat, but there's something about the combination that makes the whole idea even worse.

  • 10.
    Chitterlings
    Chitterlings

    Before eating these delicious pig intestines, be sure you have definitely cleaned out all the undigested food and feces Porky didn’t get the chance to finish, otherwise the thought of eating this might make you feel sick.

  • 9.
    Lutefisk
    Lutefisk

    "Lye fish," a pungent, gelatinous white fish from Sweden. Be sure to eat it all and rinse your plate, otherwise the residue could be stuck there forever. That's probably not the case with your insides, though.

  • 8.
    Durian fruit
    Durian fruit

    Another pungent fruit, this one is so bad that it is comparable to a cheese level of bad smells. Like Bourgogne Cheese in France, this fruit is banned from public transportation in Singapore due to its smell.

  • 7.
    Cazu Marzu
    Cazu Marzu

    Let’s be honest, there really is no such thing as a great smelling cheese. This is one that takes that fact and adds thousands of maggots inside. But it’s okay, those maggots make it soft and less fatty! Eat up!

  • 6.
    Bat paste
    Bat paste

    You know it, I know it, Ace Ventura knows it: this is just bat poop. Delicious, nutritious bat poop.

  • 5.
    Surstromming
    Surstromming

    Swedish canned herring is a dish they suggest you enjoy outside, perhaps while camping with the family, since it has been described as "the most putrid smell of food in the world."

  • 4.
    Haggis
    Haggis

    Because when putting something in your stomach, it usually helps if it was prepared within the stomach of the animal itself. Forget about how much your mouth totally doesn’t buy that logic, it doesn’t know anything.

  • 3.
    Jellied Moose Nose
    Jellied Moose Nose

    Eaten regularly in bitter silence by Jason Alexander every time he receives a royalty check for his work as Boris in the beloved 2000 live action classic “Adventures of Rocky & Bullwinkle.”

  • 2.
    Century egg
    Century egg

    The eggs aren't technically as old as the name would suggest, but they are definitely past their sell-by date and aside from looking great, they also have the ultra-enticing aroma of sulphur and ammonia. Yummm.

  • 1.
    Stink heads
    Stink heads

    They’re called STINK HEADS. But don’t worry about getting sick from these fermented white fish heads; they bury them right in the ground for you so you don’t get infected by that pesky plastic stuff.