The King of Fruit - A Love Story.

Hello, my name is Sarah and I'm proud to be an American.

At least, since April 2008.

Before that, I had a red passport; being born and raised in the beautiful country of Malaysia - you know - one of those tropical countries that we hear fruitarians and raw vegans brag about all the time on the internet as they go on their exotic fruit binges safaris around South East Asia?

Sometimes I find it extremely ironic that I transitioned to a fruitarian lifestyle after I moved away from Malaysia.

Although I ate a lot of fruit growing up, thanks to my Dad who served us some kind of fruit at every meal, I am now kicking myself because I do not feel I fully appreciated what I had available to me all those years.

(Of course on the flip side, my Dad is probably kicking himself for giving me such a love for fruit that I grew up and became a freakin' fruitarian.)

There is a vast array of tropical fruit I used to eat, that I no longer have easy access to now that I live halfway across the world. I miss them.


The King of Fruit
But perhaps the one that I miss most of all, is the King of fruit: The mighty durian.

Durian is a gourmet treat for Malaysians. During durian season, it was not uncommon for us to buy a whole bunch of them, and invite our friends over for a durian party and eat a mono meal of durian only. Usually we'd spread it out on the floor on newspapers and sit around it cross legged with much reverence and drooling, because...actually I don't know why, that's just the way we did it.

There are three reasons why I believe durian is often referred to as the King of Fruit. Its taste, its smell, and its ability to kill. Seriously - ripe durians falling off the tree is a hazard to life itself. They're huge - bigger than the average human head, and they are lethally heavy and spiky. I would be much more terrified of a madman wielding a durian than a knife or a gun, lets just put it that way.

It is difficult to describe the taste of durian because words cannot do it justice, but I'll give it a shot. To me, it's creamy, super sweet and like a thick pudding with a slight vanilla flavor to it.

But durian's taste is often described separately from its smell. The thing that shies most foreigners away from trying durian, is its strong stench fragrance. This fragrance is so strong, that in SE Asian countries it is not uncommon to see signs like this in public areas:

Photo Credit - Indrani Soemardjan

I think the only person I've ever heard describe the taste AND smell of durian perfectly together is my Dad, who always said that durian:

"Tastes like heaven and smells like hell."

Of course, then there's my dear white Texan American husband, who has this to say:

"It's like biting into a big fat juicy bag of garbage."

(Disclaimer - Kevin really likes durian. After the 3rd time he tried it, anyway.)


Fresh in the shell is best.
My friend Harmony recently bought a shipment of unshelled durian from Genefit and unfortunately did not have a very good experience with it. It wasn't shipped very efficiently and was leaking and warm (gross!) by the time it got to her.

As a result, her entire house reeked of durian perfume for a couple of days, which thrilled her to no end, of course. (Not.) I can't blame her - the durian smell is a bit of a stink bomb, and gradual acclimation works best. Ha. But me - I'd probably have wallowed and bathed in the smell and tried to bottle it for the memories.

In my house, we have frozen durian from the asian store for special occasions - usually birthdays. If you ask any of my kids what their favorite fruit is, durian is usually one of the first things they shout out. I say "one of the first things", because they can't ever pick just one fruit!

However, frozen and unshelled durian is pretty dismal when compared to buying one fresh from a fruit stall, bringing it home and devouring it within minutes. With the latter experience, the word euphoria comes to mind.

My two oldest kids are lucky. When they were one, we took a trip with them back to Malaysia. They got their first taste of durian that year. I have some precious video of two baby boys shoveling as much fresh durian into their mouths as they possibly can, and my parents in the background chuckling with delight to see their half-foreigner grandsons taking to stinky local fruit like ducks to water.


Someday...
As durian season comes to Malaysia again this year, I find my heart longing for a long overdue trip back home. But international plane tickets for a family of five costs a pretty penny and it is unlikely we'll be able to afford to go back any time this year.

But some day soon, I will make that trip home. And I will descend upon the durians like I haven't eaten in 6 years, and I will feast on them until my belly is big and full and round and satisfied. And then I suppose, since I'm already there, I might as well go visit my family and friends too. ;)


What is your experience with Stinky Fruit?
Where are you at in your experience with the King? Have you met him? Have you courted him? Have you had him? Have you fallen in love or broken up with him? Share with me!

*I hope you've enjoyed the durian photos, they were taken by Wong Cheng Yi, an old friend of mine in Malaysia and when I saw them, I had to ask her if I could show them off on my blog! Aren't they great?!