First I love its smell. I always get irritated when people say that durian "smells like hell but tastes like heaven."
Durian smells and tastes like heaven. It makes my blood boil when people who are mostly out of town revile at the smell of durian. They step back and tremble when they smell. They give out icky screams like "ewwww" or "yuck and baho."
Excuse me ano. Durian smells great. When the strong, pungent and yes heavenly smell of durian fills the air, it makes my mouth water. I love passing through Magsaysay Park. The smell alone makes me want to go and buy jeeploads of durian.
Especially now that durian sells at 30 pesos a kilo I love durian. I love its taste. But unlike some people, there is only one variety of durian that I like. And that is the "native" kind. The one that is bitter and yellowish. The others I do not eat anymore.
I only eat the "native" variety maybe because I am a native also. I love its bitterness, the bite that one experiences when one tastes the hidden passion of the fruit.
You eat durian the only way you can or should. With your hands. My wife and I used to have arguments about this. She insists eating durian with a spoon and fork. I use my hands. Chona by the way is the greatest durian eater I have known.
Though I like durian my wife adores it. She can out eat me anytime. And that is why it is marvel for me to watch her eat durian with utensils. And that is why we just buy durian and eat it at home.
When we eat durian she orders for the utensils and a plate. She slowly peels the pulp from the seed and with a smile eats the fruit while the Neanderthal me just scoops the fruit from the shell and gulp like anything. We rarely talk when we eat durian. But we both share one thing on how to eat durian.
We eat durian with rice. Oh yes we do. If you have never tried it you might take a whack at it if you dare. Durian and rice may seem like an odd combination but it is really good. Do not eat durian with fried rice though, that would be pushing it to the edge. Eat durian with moist rice. But eat the rice sparingly. A spoonful would do and eat two or three seeds.
Among our kids it is Miguel who eats durian a lot maybe because when Chona was pregnant with him my wife went durian crazy. I remember those days when she made "lihi" the durian. We would buy four five durian fruits and she would eat all of them.
We ended up turning the aircon and the fan on. So it is to no surprise that Miguel loves durian. In the next few days we will be sending him durian to him and I am sure he will be hearing things like "ewwww" or "ano ba yang amoy na yan!" from his condo neighbors. Ahh the joy of durian.
The big argument among people is what to drink after the orgy of the durian. Some people would fight to the death by proclaiming that the only way to end a durian feast is to drink soda, Coke or Pepsi. Ice cold the better. The reasoning is when one drinks the soda, it gives one the chance to burp and so it is a common sight to see people gulping Coke or Pepsi after stuffing themselves with durian. I have so many friends who do that, but that has never been my favorite way of ending the durian delight.
When I am done with the durian I always drink icy water. The colder the better. For one reason or another durian makes me thirsty and water, icy water makes the durian eating complete.
And one more thing for those who eat with their hands. The one sure way of taking out the smell from your hands is not with soap or detergent or perfume or lotion. You may wash your hands till the next season but the smell will remain. The one sure way of taking out the smell is to get one of the empty shells and wash your hands in it. Get a shell, go to a faucet, rub your hands in the shell. Try it. The smell disappears like magic.
Better hurry. The durian season does not last long. So go on and gorge yourself with the fruit. Eat it anytime. Or as we say in our Toastmasters club we eat durian for breakfast.
