When the Queen of Cheese meets the King of Fruits

Queen of Cheese... that's me.  I think I have great taste in music but seems like most everyone around me don't think so. I mean I love the (early) Beatles, ABBA, Elvis, Gladys Knight and the Pips, Isley Brothers... hmm, should I go on?

King of Fruits... that's the durian. Mention durian and it always is amusing (to me) to see the plethora of reactions it elicits. From a vehement yukk to a feverish yumm to the milder it's ok la. To hear the adjectives attached to the fruit. I can collect enough material to do a chapter on antonyms and synonyms. Stinky, creamy, sewage smell, disgusting texture, heavenly. You name it, I've heard it. :)

Personally, I like the fruit. It is sweet, yet not so, more like a milky creamy kind of sweet. 

It has a distinct scent too. I wouldn't go as far as saying smelly. Smelly is something offensive and no matter how many people tell me it is smelly, I can't possibly agree. It is perhaps an unfamiliar category of sweet, maybe cloyingly sweet to some. 

I saw a man, just recently, all on his average-sized-own, go through at least 8 jumbo sized fruit. That must be some kind of record. And I bet he was sick that night. But then again. Surprise me right? Myself? I can only eat 2 pieces (usually); egg me on, and maybe I'll eat 3. Pieces mind you, not the entire fruit!

... worth a voyage to the East?

A friend from Argentina (the cute Luis B) sent me the following quote by British naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace about what he said about the durian in 1856;

"The five cells are silky-white within, and are filled with a mass of firm, cream-coloured pulp, containing about three seeds each. This pulp is the edible part, and its consistence and flavour are indescribable. A rich custard highly flavoured with almonds gives the best general idea of it, but there are occasional wafts of flavour that call to mind cream-cheese, onion-sauce, sherry-wine, and other incongruous dishes. Then there is a rich glutinous smoothness in the pulp which nothing else possesses, but which adds to its delicacy. It is neither acid nor sweet nor juicy; yet it wants neither of these qualities, for it is in itself perfect. It produces no nausea or other bad effect, and the more you eat of it the less you feel inclined to stop. In fact, to eat Durians is a new sensation worth a voyage to the East to experience. ... as producing a food of the most exquisite flavour it is unsurpassed."