The 1 Food Bobby Flay Absolutely Hates

Everyone knows Bobby Flay. He’s an international sensation who has hosted many Food Network shows, opened a cadre of restaurants, and released a series of cookbooks. But there are some things you might not know about him. Like, what’s his favorite food? Or, even better, what food does he hate the most? We’re revealing this and more below.

Bobby Flay can’t stand this one thing

Flay hates a food you’ve probably never even heard of. In an interview with People, the chef revealed that he hates durian. Durian is a Southeast Asian fruit with a potent, unpleasant odor. The smell is, in fact, so pungent that the fruit has been banned in many public places across the continent.

“It’s awful; I don’t want to be around it,” Flay told the publication.

Many of his peers have made similar comments.

The late foodie Anthony Bourdian reportedly once said, “[Durian tastes] like pungent, runny French cheese … Your breath will smell as if you’d been French-kissing your dead grandmother.”

Meanwhile, Bizarre Foods host Andrew Zimmern compared it to “completely rotten mushy onions.”

But it’s really an acquired taste. The Guardian once described it as the “world’s most divisive fruit” because there are a number of people who can’t get enough of it. You can find it all over the southeastern parts of Asia; it’s particularly popular in Malaysia.

According to the outlet, Durian lovers enjoy its “mildly sweet, almondy and very creamy” taste.

It’s not the only food he avoids

In a 2013 interview with Bon Appétit, Flay admitted that he has a love-hate relationship with coffee. While he enjoys drinking it, he admitted that he had to cut back on it because he was consuming too much.

“I’m drinking very little coffee right now, probably 90 percent tea to 10 percent coffee. My problem with coffee is that, once I start drinking it, I drink a lot of it,” Flay explained. 

“In the last three years, I really got off it,” he continued. “I do coffee binge sometimes, but I would say that 90 percent of the time, I’m off it. It’s not as much fun without it, though, I can say that much. So instead, I’m drinking a lot of English Breakfast tea these days, with a little bit of honey and a splash of milk.”

What is Bobby Flay’s favorite food?

Flay has seemingly had a hard time pinpointing his absolute favorite food. He’s a big fan of so many different dishes and flavors.

But he told the Food Network in an interview that one of his go-to meals is “pasta with tomato and Parmesan.”

Generally, Flay leans toward foods that are healthy and hearty. He told The Tasting Table in 2016 that one of his favorite creations is a kale and wild mushroom paella. The dish is on the menu at his New York restaurant, GATO.

“I can’t tell you how many times I made it,” he said of the dish. “I just kept thinking, ‘I hate this dish; I can’t get it right; I can’t make it interesting enough; I’m just going to take it off the menu.'”

“One of my colleagues, who has worked with me for many years, basically said, ‘Bobby, you’re insane. This dish is one or two steps away from being great,'” Flay continued. “And finally we figured it out, and it was like the underdog dish of the year. It’s the number-one dish in popularity every single night at Gato. The fact that I could get a vegetarian entrée to be the top dish every night was really an accomplishment.”

We bet he could whip up something just as delicious with durian. But we’re not counting on it.