From Sarawak with Love, Su: Durians.. the King of Fruits

Durians is the king of fruits . It's a spiky green fruit with pod compartments which house two to three fleshy pungent fruit that smell like goat's cheese gone bad.. but to the connoisseur it's a wiff of heaven or hell to those who have not mastered the art of the Durian.

In my younger days my durian crazed parents would drive all the way from Singapore to Klang and along the way we would stop for durian breakfast, durian lunch and eventually at my grandmother's home for durian dinner. By the age of 8 I'd had a lifetime's worth of durians. Now , I abstain from the fruit .. just because I can.. for I have passed the age where I have to eat what's put in front of me.

My husband is a durian fanatic. He prides himself on being able to pick the best fruit at the lowest price possible. During the durian season he is often found picking fruits for various aunties and church members. Hahaha, our worship leader Yu Puay often says " If I have to put on that many calories it's got to be worth it.. so I'll eat what Jeff picks !"

My English Cocker Spaniel loves helping Jeff to pick the durians..she eats them and spits out the seed too. A whole breed of her own..

Picking durians is an art form in itself. Some sniff it, some shake it.. others gently strum it's thorny hide listening for ???? ..some shake it then put it to their ears as if they were tuning an instrument.. some place in on flat ground just to see if they fruit will balance itself and yet others can swear by the shape of the thorns if the fruit of the durian is yellow, light yellow or orangy red.

Durian pickers are in a class of their own often debating the merits of their own methods and swearing that theirs is the best. My husband however swears that he has paid high " tuition fees" to the local vendors to arrive upon his method of picking a good durian.

Durian lovers dont like to eat durian alone. HAahaha unlike an apple or rambutans the eating of a durian is a communal thing. It's a festive occassion , an occassion to gather or visit friends to show off one's durian picking skills or to just brag about the last best tasting fruit they ever had in their lives !! Last Tuesday night an enthusiastic crowd of prayer warriors ended their prayerful gathering with a feast of 60 durians at Ah Lek's home !! It was durian galore. Bitter ones, sweet ones, creamy and dry. Durians that melted in mouths and those whose flesh was mushy. It was overkill. But never the less 54-55 fruits were consumed that night...leaving a mountian of empty skin shells for the garbage collector the next morning

An expert durian King can open a fruit with anything, car keys included . Not all Desperados are cowboys . some simple want their durians NOW !!!!!

Durians can illicit the most extreme of emotions! When I was pregnant I refused to allow Jeff to eat durians anywhere near me. Then in my 9th month during one durian season he and a few friends brought a few fruits home and ate them outside the house. But somehow the smell was so strong it permeated the bedroom walls and as I lumbered towards them my baby inside me began to kick. At first the kicks were normal gentle kicks.. but as i got closer and closer to the smell the kicks became alarmingly furious! my friend Jo said " why dont you eat a fruit?Maybe the baby wants some" No way.. I was not going to eat anything in this state. But the kicking did'nt stop and so just for fun I had a seed..as soon as the pulpy flesh touched my tongue the baby's kicks stopped. Coincidence I thought. I got up intending to brush my teeth when suddenly the baby began kicking again!! So I took another seed. After 4 seeds that night my baby decided she'd had enough and allowed me to stop ! Which accounts for her rather large entrance into the world!