Food I Love! « Ravishingly Raw

Durian, god how I love you! As I walked into the Asian market yesterday, I could feel you calling out to me. I couldn’t help but see you sitting there clustered together with others of your kind. You were frozen, yet I could smell your pungent funk and I knew I had to have you. Why do I love you so? What is it about you that makes my mouth water?

Your skin is sharp, hard as nails and you look like an alien creature sent here from the high heavens. I approach you and as I get closer, even though you are frozen, I smell you. I pick up the mesh bag you were placed in and you pierce my skin…but not enough to draw blood. Even if you did make me bleed, I wouldn’t hold it against you. I just need to be more careful when I pick you up. I put three of you in my shopping cart and begin strolling you around the market. As I’m walking and minding my own business, the curiosity of others takes over and I am stopped four or five times to ask “What the hell is that? Do you eat it?” I don’t have the time to get into a conversation explaining how in just a few short days you will smell like vomit and cat piss, but taste like sweet custard when your seams split, nor do I want to explain that when you aren’t ripe, but instead green inside, you taste like rubbery rotten onion flavored green eggs! I didn’t have time to explain all that, because I was too busy getting what I needed so I could get home to see if you were ripe enough to eat!

You are definitely an acquired taste, durian, my love. I remember the first time I tasted you. I hated you. I nearly threw up at first scent. Victoria cut one open, stuck it in a blender and handed it out as a pudding. My stomach still turns from the experience. I never thought I would eat you again! But I came to realize that you weren’t as ripe as you should have been and I decided to give you just one more chance. I’m so glad I did.

My second experience eating you was far more pleasurable and that first experience quickly left my palate. I was hooked. One day when Dom and I were hanging out with Paul, I told him about how much I loved you, and he made me jealous beyond belief when he told me that there is nothing like eating you fresh and ripened…not frozen. Paul had you fresh! Well, frozen will have to do for now, but someday maybe I will get to feast on you straight from the tree and ripened, splitting at the seams!

You are a delight sitting in my kitchen, because as you ripen, your aroma tends to attract more birds than I have ever seen before. They love you! Something in your scent draws them. This morning I opened my back sliding doors and I had so many visitors to my kitchen. Birds flying in and out, risking their very existence for just a taste of your goodness. All different birds too…you seem to drive them all nuts! Watching them on the ground outside the house this morning and then hop into the kitchen and then hop back out was amazing. They will risk life and limb just to get a closer look and taste! Just one hour ago, I had to close the slider because it was getting too hot outside and when I did, there were five birds lined up at the door, pecking at the glass.

Even though you weren’t splitting at the seams last night, when you thawed out, you were soft. I couldn’t wait till you were fully ripe and decided to cut you open anyway. I know it would have been better to wait another day or two, but you tasted so good. You weren’t as sweet as you could be, but I enjoyed every mouthful of you! One of the things I love to prepare you with is raw Kim Chi, green leaf lettuce and dried nori. I seem to be the only one that enjoys you this way, but that’s ok. I was in heaven last night as I rolled you up into sushi. I love the taste of very spicy Kim Chi tempered down by your fatty sweetness.