Fruit of the day: Durian

Ah, the durian - King of Fruits.
So we went to the fruit market in search of something new and fun. We had seen the durian around before, and decided it was finally time to give it a try. So we bought ourselves a durian, lugged it home, and then turned to the internet to figure out what to do with this giant pokey fruit. We discovered it's highly coveted in Asia, and people will pay lots of money for it. Alfred Russel Wallace (the guy who almost beat Darwin to the punch) famously described its flesh as "a rich custard highly flavoured with almonds."

And here's what else we discovered. It smells. No - we hadn't quite discovered this for ourselves, yet, because our durian was frozen and well wrapped. We just thought there was someone with bad b.o. on the train. But the smell is both powerful and distinctive enough that it has been the subject of endless descriptions - several that are quite amusing, but none are very favourable. It has also led to the banishment of durians from public places in Asia. We've decided it smells like a combination of natural gas, garlic, and feet. Yum!

We tried eating it 3 different ways: plain, simmered in coconut milk and served with rice, and blended into a shake with mango and banana. The taste grows on you some, but I don't think either of us is addicted. And the smell never grows on you. In the end, I think we'd have to admit defeat by the king of fruits (just couldn't quite eat it all), but we put up a bloody good fight!