Please! (No) Durian
November 4th, 2008
Please No Durian Sign at Charcoa, Chiang Mai, Thailand
Chiang Mai, Thailand – It’s variously described as stinking like a rotting corpse or raw sewage by its detractors and creamy and sweet by its admirers. Love it or hate it, durian, Southeast Asia’s “king of fruits,” is notably unique. Its unmistakably strong scent has gotten it banned from hospitals, public transportation and hotels, my own went as far as to post a Please! No Durian sign in its courtyard. Yet it is sold all over Southeast Asia to its lovers who savor its sweet custard-soft fruit, once removed from its spiky shell, in ice cream, sticky rice, coconut milk or alone. That is not to say it’s universally enjoyed in these parts. Even among locals, the fruit has its share of either detractors or conditional enthusiasts who feel it has to be perfectly ripe, neither palely underripe nor stinking deep yellow, to be appreciated. And me? I’ve resisted both camps and continue to be perplexed by the fruit. A cause for for more investigation, I suppose. Just not in my hotel room if I want to sleep there tonight.
Durian Truck on Yaowarat Rd in Chinatown, Bangkok, Thailand
Durian in Psar Leu, Kampot, Cambodia
Packaged Durian Fruit in Pak Khlong Talat, Bangkok, Thailand
Durian Cart in Pak Khlong Talat, Bangkok, Thailand
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