Sunday, July 18, 2010

Durian

Quid?
"Widely known and revered in southeast Asia as the "king of fruits", the durian is distinctive for its large size, unique odour, and formidable thorn-covered husk."
The durian is from Brunei, Indonesia and Malaysia so we were at the perfect place to try it.
This is how it looks, from the outside and once opened.
Now the thing about durian is the following:
"The edible flesh emits a distinctive odour, strong and penetrating even when the husk is intact. Some people regard the durian as fragrant; others find the aroma overpowering and offensive. The smell evokes reactions from deep appreciation to intense disgust."
In other words, durian stinks. Really, really bad. When you smell it you actually wonder why people would want to eat it.
The odour has led to the fruit's banishment from hotels. In every hotel you can see the below sign:
Of course we tried it. Somehow I managed to overcome the smell and put it in my mouth. It tastes better than it smells for sure... but not exceptional either. I found it very fibrous.

Now I can die, I've eaten once in my life the king of the fruits.

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