It was a real gas-querade.
Residents of a UK town sounded an alarm after smelling what they thought was a gas leak, only to discover later that the stench was coming from the “world’s smelliest fruit” — durian, a delicacy throughout Southeast Asia.
“I knew it smelled bad but I didn’t think it would bring the gas board out,” Andrew Simpkins, 61, owner of the Strongs Fruit and Veg shop in Lytham, Lancashire that sold the funky fruit, told South West News Service.
An engineer with the Cadent gas company had been dispatched to the store on September 16 after residents raised a stink over a “strong smell” of gas emanating from the area.
Store assistants Wai Peng Cheng, 51, and his partner Candy Pooi Kuan Lam, 46, were confused when the worker showed up, as they hadn’t called anyone to inspect the premises.
“We saw a gas engineer pull up in front of the shop at around 1pm and he went into the charity shop next door,” Wai Peng told the outlet. “About an hour later, he tried the body care shop on the other side before coming inside Strongs.”
There were reportedly several police officers on site as well, according to Simpkins.
That’s when Wai Peng revealed the unlikely source of the fumes. “When he mentioned the smell and I told him it was the durian but he didn’t believe me at first,” he recalled. “It was only when I took him outside and gave one to him that he realized.”
The shop received a delivery earlier that week, which they put the noxious nosh on display for around $30 a pound — just several hours before the gas man was dispatched to their place of business.
The absurdity of the situation caused everyone to burst into laughter, and after finding no trace of gas, the engineer departed.
“We all just started laughing, it was hilarious — he then checked if there was any gas leak outside just to be sure but of course there wasn’t before leaving at 4pm,” Peng recalled.
Durian is known as the “king of fruit” and is prized for its sweet, custardy taste.
However, the spiky fruit has become notorious worldwide for its pungent smell, which has been analogized to everything from socks to sewage — which has caused it to get banned from hotels, trains and other public spaces across Southeast Asia, according to Atlas Obscura.
Yet despite having this smelly reputation, one NYC coffee shop sells a latte made from the smelly, spiky fruit.
“That drink tastes very [good] because it’s sweet,” the barista, from Tianjin, China, told The Post. “It just adds a flavor to the coffee and then some creaminess to it.”
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