He is admired for his uniqueness, loved for his aphrodisiac qualities and hated for his intrusiveness. His spiky appearance and unique odors got him banned from subways and hotels across Asia but built his street credibility at the same time. He is known as the king of fruits in Malaysia, a culinary enfant terrible and the personification of controversy.
The Durian is by far the funkiest fruit we have encountered in our travels! It is big, up to 3 kg heavy and looks like a spiky club from the middle ages. It tastes like cheese, but smells like gym socks and is healthy like hell. In Georgetown, Penang, we bought a whole Durian from a bicycle dealer on a flee market just before he got expelled by officials and removed from the market area. The guy opened the spiky shell for us, so we could peel out fleshy pieces. The segments inside look like cream puffs, usually have one seed each and a thin skins around them, a bit like eggs around the eggwhite. If you rip that skin, they become sticky and if you don’t eat them right away, they start smelling like that really expensive black cheese in Paris within 10 minutes. But the taste is uncomparable, unlike anything you have ever tasted before. It tasted sweetish, a bit like almonds but different and it has a texture like cream cheese. I love it, Julia hates it.
Even more mysterious seem to be its effects on people. As foreigners buying this really special fruit, we quickly turned into the center of attention at the market and got lots of advice on what the Durian would do to us. „It will make you feel hot“ or „Don’t drink any alcohol afterwards, it is really dangerous“ and „Wait until tonight in bed that’s when Durian will show its real power.“
Well, the king of fruits is very special indeed and if you ever get the chance to taste one for yourself, do so. Just try to get him fresh, since the pre-opened and packaged segments smell so intense that they will spoil your opinion about him before you got a real taste.
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