Durian, The Extreme Fruit

In a world where it’s difficult to separate black and white realities, we have a fruit like the durian, the King of Fruits of Malaysia, which has the ability to separate lovers and haters to huge extremes – you either hate durians or you love them to the point of addiction.

Durians are interesting in that spectrum, to have the ability to attract people by just smelling like leaked gas from the kitchen and people are more than willing to carry huge butcher knives to separate the heavy and dangerously thorny exterior to enjoy the sweetness of the fruit. Durians not only smell like gas, it also makes you smell like gas - when you exhale, or burp for an entire night after consuming it. If you used your hands to feed yourself durians, rest assured, the smell will be lingering on your hand overnight too. When you wake up in the morning, you can smell it as though you’ve just eaten it and still have some in the refrigerator even though the fruit is all gone.

Not everyone can withstand the pungent aroma of durians. It can trigger some people to throw up or feel nauseous, giddy and faint. In Singapore and other countries, the durian is an offensive fruit and people can be heavily fined if they brought durians to hotels or offices. It is even banned in some companies in Malaysia due this very real condition – the ‘durian allergy’.

If you ever overcome the pungent aroma of durians, you will then get to enjoy the fruit. When a durian is sliced in two, pick a yellow fruit and tear its soft fleshy creamy texture with your hands and let it melt in your mouth. The difference between an ice cream and the durian is that the durian is limited to that strong durian taste, with the right mix of bitter and sweet at room temperature while an ice cream is available in plenty of flavours and usually frozen cold.

It is impossible to eat a durian fruit all by yourself therefore when the durians are in season during the hotter times of the year in the tropical country, families and friends would most likely throw a durian party so that the durians can be shared and relished by all its adoring fans while holding discussions with a durian breathe. It is known to bring families together and some corporate companies have also adopted this as a perfect and very Malaysian way to get together with business partners, clients and co-workers.

For those who don’t want to go through the tedious task of slicing open a 1kg durian or have a smaller group and don’t want to mess the home can opt to go to the roadside ‘All You Can Eat ‘ durian shelters where salt water is provided to wash hands before and after consuming the durians and also to rinse and gargle your mouth after eating. All you need to do is point your finger towards the durian you choose. There will be at least more than fifty durians lined up on wooden racks, some already cracked open for testing or tasting. Then, you just sit by the long wooden canteen table and have the durians brought to you. Once you are done, you can wash your hands, gargle your mouth and walk away without having to clean the mess and this is the option that the younger generation opt for if they feel like eating durians as this is a ‘convenient generation’.

And remember, DO NOT consume durians with alcohol. It can cause severe indigestion and in extreme cases, cause death. You can get pretty heaty after consuming durians so it is wise to have something to cool off and that’s why mangosteens, ‘Queen of the Fruits’ or Coconut water are sometimes provided in durian buffets as they help cool off the body heat and it is tradition to have coconut water and mangosteens after a huge durian feast.

Durians will be here to stay, whether you like it or not. It is one of the defining cultures here in Malaysia. As the Malaysian saying goes, you don't take durians? Ai-ya! You don't know what you are missing! How can you call yourself a Malaysian like that? *burp* And it goes on and on and on.