Durian

One of the funnest things about living here is all the interesting foods we get to try. One of the things I was looking forward to trying was all of the different fruits they have here. We came right in the middle of the "harvest" season where some of their fruits are particularly plentiful and very good. Although there are some fruits that we have truly enjoyed, there have been some that we haven't really liked.... at all!!! One of those fruits is called durian. Durian is native to Davao, Philippines. All of the locals always ask foreigners if they have tasted durian, and it usually takes foreigners quite awhile before they will taste it. In fact, there are people who have lived here for years and have never even tasted durian. And here's why: You can smell durian from a mile away. It smells kind-of like dirty feet. It's truly one of the nastiest smells. And it being "durian season" here, it smells like durian everywhere! But, they have this saying here "Durian: It smells like hell, but tastes like heaven." Rob and I want to experience as much of the culture as we can, so, of course, the first time someone offered us durian, we accepted the invitation.

First of all, it kind-of looks like a fruit from another planet. As you can see it is green with this huge spikes all around it. When you open it, it kind-of looks like chicken. But there are these "pods" where the "meat" is. The meat is around each of the seeds. (I think there are about 6 or so seeds.) Well, here we are, with the awful smell surrounding us about to try this "fruit." Of course I make Rob go first, because I want to capture every moment with our camera. And, as you can see, he did not have a very pleasant look on his face.

Then comes my turn to try durian. Oh, can I tell you, that was one of the nastiest things I have ever tasted in my entire life. First of all, whoever calls it a "fruit" is crazy. Durian is so far from a fruit it's ridiculous. I guess it should be called a vegetable. Well, really, it should just be in a category of it's own. It tastes like garlic and dirty feet. The worst part is the texture. It's like this mushy slimy stringy texture. Oh, I am making a face as I even think about it. (Kind-of like the one in the picture) Yeah, I can really react pretty dramatically and let me tell you I was pretty dramatic. I could not get that look off of my face for hours! Everyone we were with was laughing at me. I would have tried to restrain my dramatic faces if we were with locals. Fortunately we were with other Americans who just thought I was funny. Oh yeah, and you taste it for the rest of the day. It's like this garlic after taste. Oh it was bad. Well, we were with this one missionary who loves it! And she said that you have to have it 3 times before you start to love it. It's like an acquired taste. My question is who would want to acquire that taste?? Yeah, so durian is VERY popular here. You can get durian flavored milk, you can get durian ice cream. There is even durian flavored cheesecake! So, family, you might want to look out for some of the candy we send home! Since we can't send a whole durian to you, we might want to share this whole experience with you through candy flavored durian!