 |
Music •
Biography •
Press Kit •
Randomness •
Lyrics Gigs • Photos • Writing • Fun Stuff • Links • Contact |
Wednesday, July 30, 2008 The King of Fruit It's the world's smelliest fruit. In Southeast Asia, it's actually banned from hotels and public transportation. And it produces strong reactions. To its detractors, it smells like rotting onions, dead cats, or skunk. To its faithful lovers (and there are many) it smells sweet, at least when it's fresh. Victorian naturalist Alfred Russell Wallace once wrote, "To eat durian is a new sensation worth a voyage to the East to experience." And I agree. But then again, I grew up eating this stuff. Durian is grown in Southeast Asia, and due to its short shelf life and potent smell, it's rarely exported to the West in whole form. Exported durian usually consists of the edible part of the fruit removed from its husk, boxed, and frozen--the texture is rather off-putting. But every trip I've taken to Singapore since I moved as a kid has involved at least a couple of expeditions to roadside stalls where most of my family (my brother and one uncle despise the fruit) would take in piles of durian and open them with help from the seller, who was always known by some family member as "his" durian seller. It's my favorite fruit--you might call me an addict--because when else can you eat something with the texture of custard and consider it healthy? (I've also decided that while the taste will probably never grow on someone who hates it at first bite, it becomes progressively more addictive to those who do enjoy it. It's not called the King of Fruit for nothing.) So imagine my surprise when I saw fresh durian in the Asian grocery store. Incredible! After making my purchase (a rather steep $37--but then again it's cheaper than a ticket to Singapore) I called my parents to tell them the news (and ask for advice on how to open the thorny husk, a feat I'd always left to the durian seller or some other, more experienced family member). After some tricky maneuvering involving a knife, towels, and a bottle opener (as a lever) outside so that my apartment wouldn't smell, I was treated to the best example of durian I've experienced outside of Asia. It was good enough that I'm craving more. The verdict from Americans? Bryan found it surprisingly palatable given the smell and his misadventure with durian ice cream in Singapore (durian-flavored items tend to taste rather terrible, in my opinion--you have to eat the fresh fruit, preferably slightly chilled), but my roommate thought it tasted like old onions. Andrew Zimmern of Bizarre Foods is happy eating roasted bats, raw frog hearts, and lizard blood cocktails--but the one food that defeated him utterly? You guessed it. Yum! Labels: Asian culture, food, Singapore ^ Top | 12:38 AM | | | 
|
