Durian - love it or loathe it at first sniff!

No fruit in the world is as exotic as the gloriously 'stinky' durian! How dare I say that? 

Delicious durian pulp waiting to be consumed.

Well, just look at it! It is extremely thorny! Some cultivars are grotesquely shaped - think Quasimodo in the Hunchback of Notre Dame.

Durian is a seasonal tropical fruit.

It is monstrously big and heavy! One can weight up to 10 lbs (5 kg).

This durian cultivar is called dinasour!

It carries a distinctive aroma that to some is the sweetest perfume in the world while to others one sniff is enough to induce instant puking.

To untrained eyes, durian fruit is better qualified as a murderous weapon than an edible fruit. In order to savour the durian flesh, one must learn to open the extremely thick rind first! Oh, did I mention the fruit exterior is entirely covered with big hard thorns that are capable of drawing blood?

A sharp curved pocket knife is first used to slit open the durian rind along the joints.

Opening a durian takes real skill with a seriously sharp knife and a little muscle grease (or a lot). To the untutored, a saw may seem like a good choice to use, but not!

A thick rind may require a cleaver to pried open the joints.

Ahh,  the sight and smell of a durian is otherworldly!

Durian, the king of fruits of Southeast Asia is not a light, refreshing, juicy fruit. The premium grade is richly creamy, the flesh ranging from sweet to bittersweet. A popular cultivar in Malaysia,  'XO', naturally carries a tinge of brandy liquor.













Handling a durian pulp is a unique experience all by itself.  While some pulps are repulsively gooey soft, some are firm, creamy pulp that is velvety to the touch.

The smell of a durian is sure to stay on your fingers for a few hours.

The unique odor and flavor of durian are ineffable. Whether passionately love it or intensely disgusted by it, once you have experienced a durian, you can never forget the smell or the taste of it. Due to the intense feelings people have on durian, a couple with one partner loves it while the other loathes it made a very interesting situation. Some snicking around sampling or explosive arguments are known to happen.

Some of the legendary descriptions of durian by virgin taster are:

"like eating sweet raspberry blancmange in the lavatory" ...Novelist Anthony Burgess

"its odor is best described as pig-shit, turpentine and onions, garnished with a gym sock. It can be smelled from yards away"...Travel and food writer Richard Sterling

Some other unsavory words used to describe durians include " stale vomit, sewage, used surgical swabs, and skunk spray".

The 19th century British naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace perhaps provided the best description of the flavor of the durian;

"The five cells are silky-white within, and are filled with a mass of firm, cream-colored pulp, containing about three seeds each. This pulp is the edible part, and its consistence and flavor are indescribable. A rich custard highly flavored with almonds gives the best general idea of it, but there are occasional wafts of flavor that call to mind cream-cheese, onion-sauce, sherry-wine, and other incongruous dishes. Then there is a rich glutinous smoothness in the pulp which nothing else possesses, but which adds to its delicacy. It is neither acidic nor sweet nor juicy; yet it wants neither of these qualities, for it is in itself perfect. It produces no nausea or other bad effect, and the more you eat of it the less you feel inclined to stop. In fact, to eat Durians is a new sensation worth a voyage to the East to experience. ... as producing a food of the most exquisite flavor it is unsurpassed."

 Indeed, the more you eat durian the less you feel inclined to stop! Durian, once only favored by Malaysians, Singaporeans, and Thais, have since gained loyal fans from all over the world. Comes durian season in mid of the year, durian connoisseurs from China, Hong Kong, Europe, America, Arabs, Australia, and New Zealand fly in just to savor the different varieties of durian. It is a common sight to see temporary stalls sprout out all over the city with friends and family gather around tasting and enjoying durians.

#durian #kingoffruits #exoticfruits