Let's take the goya or as it is more widely known, the bitter melon. It looks like nothing anyone would voluntarily eat. All warty and all.
And the taste! It's so bitter that I still can't fathom the bravery of the first humans who tried it and then instead of declaring it poisonous continued to eat it.
In Okinawa they stir fry it with pork, tofu, and eggs and it's pretty darn good. Lot's of vitamin C. Bitter.
What's for dessert? Why durian, of course!
Looks thorny, smells like dishrag! Tastes like sweet butter and almonds.
Oh, this was great from travel and food writer Richard Sterling:
"...it's odor is best described as pig-shit, turpentine and onions garnished with gym sock. It can be smelled from yards away."
He knew what he was talking about. Look it's made the boy go crazy about the eyes.
But really. It tastes quite good!
So the moral of this story is pointy foods at first seem dangerous, something nature never intended anyone to actually consume, maybe some sort of cosmic joke. However, if you get past the awful bitterness/stink/warty-ness they are not only edible but often delicious.
