Don't knock my durian ...

Not that you'd want to, because those spikes can be deadly! 

Can you believe my shock when I a pile of durian -- blast frozen -- sitting with boxes of tamarind and right next to the mushrooms in Superstore? This durian travelled all the way from home (ok, Thailand, but that's nearby) to come find me in Canada.

Durian has been touted as the fruit that smells like hell and tastes like heaven. I find that most people either love it with an inexplicable, even manic ardor, or just abhor it with equal fervour. There is no middle ground with the "king of fruit" which hails from Southeast Asia.

As you probably tell, I am of the former camp: ardent durian eater and now evangelist (ha!) Read on to see me open this up ...

Usually the sweetish, pungent aroma of ripe durian will permeate a household in no time (did you know that durian is actually banned on airplanes?). But this little baby was blast frozen. We left the durian out overnight so that it could defrost. I was impressed -- the next morning the durian was smelling as it should and looking fine, fresh as it had come from a tree!

That lovely smell just getting us salivating. But opening a durian up takes a little patience. The hubby - herein known as Y - wielded our big big knife and prised it open through the beginnings of a crack, a sure sign of ripeness. 

Y then continued to prise open the sections and each section yielded one of these rich creamy pulpy pieces. In my opinion, it tastes lovely -- sweet and custardy and a even little oniony. If you're adventurous, I suggest you try it. If you're semi-adventurous, you may want to try durian ice cream or a durian cake as it is much milder and sweeter.

For the curious ones, this good-size durian cost us C$1.98/lb and this came out to be about 6 lbs so approx C$12.