A Taste of Something Different?

A colleague of mine, who works on the east coast, possesses some fruit trees. He has very kindly invited me to his house to sample both his hospitality and the fruit.

It is to be hoped that, very soon, I shall be able to drive over to the east coast to work and then, en route for home, detour to his house.

Not much of a detour since it is, almost, on the road back to Kuala Lumpur.

The fruit in question is a favourite. Not only of mine but also of most Malaysians. Indeed, it is a favoured fruit amongst the inhabitants of South East Asia generally. The taste for it is unlikely to spread very much beyond this locality because it is banned from airlines and, indeed, from most hotels even here.

You would think that the popularity of the fruit would enable it to be taken into hotels here but no, it is banned.

The fruit is called Durian.

Musang King Durian

There are many varieties of Durian. Wild ones are quite popular but there are also a number of clones available. The expensive Durian is called ‘Musang King’ (see above), it is sweet succulent and has lots of flesh around a small seed.

Some Durians have large seeds and little flesh—those are the cheaper ones.

I do not know how this variety came to be called 'Musang King' because a 'Musang' is known to Westerners as a 'Palm Civet Cat'; these are not known for eating Durians!

Musang (Palm Civet Cat)

Now that I have told you that they are sweet and succulent, tasting something like a superior custard, I should also tell you that, to the uninitiated, the smell is how one imagines the sewers of hell to be.

Once you are accustomed to the smell it is attractive, it tells you that there are Durians nearby ready for the sampling.

Naturally, the obvious thought that will spring immediately into your head is this, “When the very first person to come across a Durian found it and realised that it was the source of that incredibly foul smell, what possessed him to consider eating it?”

It is a fair question and one that has been asked, no doubt, by people through the ages.

The other point about it is that it has an impressively armoured skin beset all around with extremely sharp and hard spikes.

How did they open it?

The answer to the last question—and possibly the first, is that they watched monkeys eat the fruit. Possibly the Durian burst open when it fell from the tree; it should be said that Durian trees are very high. But, still... the smell...

There are a variety of Durian products on the market. It is not just the fresh fruit that is in demand. There is a number of Durian flavoured products on sale.

One of these products is Durian Dodol. Dodol is pretty well pure cane sugar! There is rice flour and coconut milk added to it but it is mostly sugar. It is a little bit like toffee but inordinately sweet, sticky and thick—it has the consistency of a very chewy jelly.

Making Dodol

Dodol Ready to Eat

Cooking Dodol takes about nine hours, it has to be stirred incessantly throughout the process or it will be burnt and taste bad.

Sometimes it is flavoured with other things and guess what? Durian comes pretty high on the list of things with which to flavour Dodol!

Other things use durian, too. In some places they ferment the Durian flesh and turn it into a sort of thin soup to eat fresh water fish with. This is called tempoyak. It is delicious but not, I should say, to everyone’s taste.

If you don’t fancy tempoyak you might have Durian custard or Durian porridge.

The World is full of variety.

You don’t have to go to MuckDonald’s for a culinary adventure.