To dismiss eating a durian due to it smelling of rotting flesh (not that I agree it does smell quite that bad) is like not eating a ripe French cheese because it smells like worn socks. Whilst I agree it does have a certain odorous quality (I've just entered my guesthouse room and it has a distinct durian smell, even though the durian is in a plastic container, in a plastic bag in the fridge) if you look beyond that you're left with one of life's great gastronomic delights. Forget adjectives usually reserved for fruit - crisp, tart, juicy, refreshing - and start thinking of those you'd use for more decadent pleasures - unctuous, rich, creamy... When properly ripe it melts in the mouth, coating the palate much like the aforementioned ripe cheese, with its bitter sweet, very fragrant flesh. Even this fails to capture the essence of it all though, there's an alcholic headiness to it unlike any fruit I've eaten. It truly is a delight. To add to the pleasure it does the same to your hands as it does to your mouth, a mountain of tissue is requisite to rid any stickiness that sucking on the fingers fails to remove.
It can be an acquired taste, sure, but once acquired it gets better every time you have it. Lucky for me it's durian season now and I'm in SE Asia.
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