The fruit of the gods

ICQ No. 5399378
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The Fruit of the Gods

The Durian, the fruit many consider a burden to the nose, is for me the undisputed king of tropical bounty. I am a firm worshipper of the Durian. While many of the people I know despise the smell emanating from this pungent fruit, I adore the ethereal quality of its aroma. Others may squirm at the purportedly ugly, prickly fruit, but I melt at the mere sight of it, for in it I see its fair flesh, exuding with delight, as if inviting me to partake of its lush flavor, luring me into ecstasy with the smell of its seductive fragrance. -- ßeeÐee, 1998

It is once again the Durian season, and the stalls in front of Magsaysay Park in Davao City, as well as the numerous other fruit stands elsewhere, are brimming with a deluge of this wonderful tropical gift.

When August sets in, people of the mountain villages throughout the Davao region avoid lazing underneath the lofty trees related to the kapok, for fear that the falling spiny globes might land on their heads and knock them to the next dimension. They fear that may never again enjoy the aroma that engulfs the air whenever a fruit is opened, or taste the luscious pulp that elicit feelings of inexplicable pleasure and ecstasy. They fear a catastrophe.

September marks the terminal end of the Durian Season. And I am immensely gladdened that my day of nativity falls within this period. In fact, I think it may have been Divine-intervened as I could find many a similarity between myself and the Master, who is Durian (call it Ipinaglihi sa Duryan), not because I "smell like hell" (I must contend that Durians DO NOT stink, although I bear no objection to the following phrase: "but tastes like heaven"), but because, like the Durian fruit, I have fallen many times, both literally and, well, non-literally (but who hasnt?). But I shall spare you the grief.

The Durian is an ugly fruit, they say. Alright, it looks like the smaller version of Sputnik (the first man-made satellite. remember?) but unlike the 'spacefruit,' this one is greenish-brown to brown in color, and it's way smaller and lighter (oh well... didnt I say "smaller version?" -- ok so you got the point). If you still dont get it, try looking at the images on top.

Durians are Spiny globes of greenish brown to brown, which may weigh over a kilo, sometimes even more than two kilos. Inside, one will see a neat row of seeds, three or four per 'chamber', all wearing a coat of greyish to yellow pulp. The thickness of the pulp depends on the variety. The pulp is the edible part of the durian, though I have heard that some people roast the seeds and eat the insides--but I have no accounts to prove it yet.

As I have mentioned, the thickness of the pulp depends on the variety of the fruit. The Chanee variety (Thai) has the thickest pulp i've seen, but it tastes bland. Most people from Manila and foreigners prefer this as the pulp tastes "creamy" and it had smaller seeds and thicker pulp. But I, and many other 'natives' of Davao City and neighboring places, prefer the local Malagkit variety because of the strong, bitter-sweet taste of its pulp. It may yeild 'thinner' pulp but for me it's still the best, in fact you can feel your body heating up after a few seeds. Likewise, the Malagkit durian smells stronger than the Thai variety.

I am surprised to note, however,that some "fans" of the durian actually hate its smell, as I consider this fruit as the most pleasurably aromatic in the world, and I thought that loving its pulp means likewise loving its smell.

So, if you want to taste heaven on earth, forget about sex. Instead, lick off the pulp from a pungent durian seed and prepare yourself for inexplicable pleasure and ecstasy.¤