Marc Murphy Won't Touch This Chopped Ingredient

Marc Murphy has had to eat his fair share of questionable foods. As a judge on "Chopped," Murphy has the sometimes unenviable task of sampling what contestants make with those unpredictable mystery basket ingredients that can range from kumquats to Rocky Mountain oysters, geoduck, or even vegetable yeast spread (via Food Network). But even celebrity chefs have their limits when it comes to certain foods. Murphy is no different. There is one "Chopped" ingredient that the cookbook author says he will not touch, and he is not alone in his strong dislike and aversion to this strange food. 

In fact, according to Smithsonian Magazine, Anthony Bourdain once called this ingredient, "indescribable, something you will either love or despise ... Your breath will smell as if you'd been French-kissing your dead grandmother." And Bobby Flay imparted some strong words to People about this particular food, saying, "It's awful; I don't want to be around it." Food writer Richard Sterling is often quoted for writing of this ingredient: "Its odor is best described as ... turpentine and onions, garnished with a gym sock. It can be smelled from yards away." And in 2018, per Yahoo, this ingredient's presence on a flight in Indonesia caused passengers to refuse to board.

What food could cause so much hate and disgust? Per Food Network, when quizzed about what his "Achilles' heel ingredient" is or one that he hates to work with or eat, Murphy said, "The durian fruit! It's just a very strange ingredient to work with." Durian, per Smithsonian Magazine, hails from Asia and to say this fruit with a spiky exterior and yellow creamy interior smells is an understatement. It's so potent, it's actually been banned in various hotels, airports, and public transit.

According to the Great Big Story, if you can get past that odor, which is clearly not an easy feat, durian has five distinct flavors: sweet, alcohol, bitter, flower, and numb taste which is a flavor where your tongue is said to "literally go numb." This is said to be a fruit that you either love or hate. There's no in-between. We can't blame Murphy for not liking it. Even Andrew Zimmern, the host of "Bizarre Foods" who eats pretty much anything, wrote of durian, "I've eaten durian about 15 times, and I just don't like it. I don't like the taste or its mouth feel," per his website.