Photo taken by : Steve Bennett
Eating or bringing durian is especially prohibited in Singapore trains! It has also been prohibited in airplanes.
Durian has been well known because of its distinctive smell. Many say it stinks like garbage, lavatory, corpse. But Alfred Russel Wallace, a naturalist from Britain positively describes durian:
the five cells are silky-white within, and are filled with a mass of firm, cream-coloured pulp, containing about three seeds each. This pulp is the edible part, and its consistence and flavour are indescribable. A rich custard highly flavoured with almonds gives the best general idea of it, but there are occasional wafts of flavour that call to mind cream-cheese, onion-sauce, sherry-wine, and other incongruous dishes. Then there is a rich glutinous smoothness in the pulp which nothing else possesses, but which adds to its delicacy. It is neither acid nor sweet nor juicy; yet it wants neither of these qualities, for it is in itself perfect. It produces no nausea or other bad effect, and the more you eat of it the less you feel inclined to stop. In fact, to eat Durians is a new sensation worth a voyage to the East to experience. ... as producing a food of the most exquisite flavour it is unsurpassed.
pulp = the inner part of a fruit
edible = can be eaten
indescribable = difficult to describe well
waft = scent or smell (something carried through the air)
incongruous = strangely combined
glutinous = sticky
nausea = having an uncomfortable stomach and feeling of wanting to vomit
voyage = travel
exquisite = very beautiful
unsurpassed = the best
What do you think about durian?
