The One Food Padma Lakshmi Can't Stand
If you are a judge on a cooking competition series, it's hard to have any type of food restriction. Whether you are gluten free or lactose intolerant, vegan or vegetarian, a whole host of dishes are immediately eliminated from your palate. In an interview with Cooking Light, "Chopped" judge Amanda Freitag opened up about what it's like having a severe allergy to hazelnuts. "Hazelnuts are never on set when I'm there. They're not usually on set at all. Any guest judge appearances I make, I let them know before I come in that I'm allergic to hazelnuts," the TV personality shared. Walnuts are also forbidden at Freitag's restaurant, Empire Diner.
Even if don't have any dietary restrictions, most people have foods they just can't stomach. Even famous chefs can't stand certain foods. While Giada de Laurentiis detests cauliflower rice, as revealed on Christopher Kimball's Milk Street Radio podcast, Ina Garten isn't a fan of pre-grated Parmesan cheese or cilantro (via Time). As for Padma Lakshmi? The "Top Chef" has an aversion to a certain potent smelling food.
Padma Lakshmi is not the only celebrity chef who detests durian
Padma Lakshmi opened about her "arch-nemesis of the food world." And no, it's not another celebrity chef, but a fruit (via Bravo TV). The former model revealed what her least favorite food was in an Instagram story while in Macau: durian. As it turns out, Lakshmi's hate for the fruit dates back to her childhood when she was growing up in South India. "I didn't even get to hate the taste because I was so repelled by the smell," she shared. "It smells like vanilla and stinky feet." The heat and humidity reportedly didn't help.
Lakshmi is not alone in her aversion to durian. The New York Times referred to durian as "the world's smelliest fruit" (via YouTube). The smell of the fruit is so strong that it's even banned on some public transportation systems and in certain hotels. In Bangkok, Thailand, reporter Thomas Fuller asked more than one unknowing tourist what they thought about the smell and taste of durian only to receive an overwhelmingly negative response.
Other celebrity chefs in the "I hate durian" club include Bobby Flay and the late Anthony Bourdain (via Cheat Sheet). The "Parts Unknown" host revealed whether durian tastes as bad as it smells and said that the fruit tastes "like pungent, runny French cheese ... Your breath will smell as if you'd been French kissing your dead grandmother." It doesn't get much worse than that!