I (heart) Durian

There are many culinary adventures to be had here in Thailand, and the durian fruit certainly qualifies. Since moving here I have been asked three times by different Thai people if I had yet tried the durian, and I have not been asked that question about any other Thai food.

When another fellow in Joe’s program who is staying with us brought some home the other night (she had never tried it either), how could we say no?

First a little background on durian.

It’s large, about 12 inches long and 6 inches in diameter with a scary thorn-covered outer shell. On the inside are yellow pods each containing a pit attached to the center core. The yellow pods are usually removed and one eats the yellow flesh around the pit. So far not so intimidating, right?

The unusual part of the durian is the way it tastes and smells. I simply can’t describe it except to say that it tastes like farmer’s cheese. Lucky for you I found great quotes on the web (I’ve given up on the live links since they so often fail).

Here is how Alfred Russel Wallace (a British naturalist writing in 1856) describes the flavor:

“A rich custard highly flavoured with almonds gives the best general idea of it, but there are occasional wafts of flavour 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.”

And here’s a great quote on the taste by travel and food writer Richard Sterling:

“... its odor is best described as pig-shit, turpentine and onions, garnished with a gym sock. It can be smelled from yards away. Despite its great local popularity, the raw fruit is forbidden from some establishments such as hotels, subways and airports, including public transportation in Southeast Asia.”

After opening the package and releasing the stench, we told ourselves we would not be put off. I wish I had a camera to catch the look of apprehension on our faces as we bit in and then our various expressions of confusion as we registered the taste. Joe and the other PiA bravely took several bites, but in the end surrendered admitting they hated it (a quote from our friend: “I can’t believe it, I never met a fruit I didn’t like!”). I was baffled for a different reason. I loved it, and I didn’t understand why the others looked like they were about to toss their cookies. In the end it turned out to be great luck for me, because I got to eat the rest of the fruit, and a raw deal for the others since they had to smell it over the next two days while I finished off the supply.