The Durian Post

Blame Anna for this stinky-fruit-themed post, as she's been uploading some old videos to YouTube, including this one of Tait and Daorcey trying durian, a notoriously stinky south-east Asian fruit. Hers is not the only durian-tagged video on YouTube either—it looks like there are just over 100 others, including this really cute one. Go figure.

Durian is a heavy, spiky fruit that smells like high heaven when opened (I've heard it compared to aspirin (by Anna) and to cat pee. Apparently, every year it is also responsible for deaths in Asia due to over-consumption and, um, gravity (according to my friend James F). While he lived in Thailand, poor James' apartment was located next to a durian stand.

And how does durian taste? The only thing I remember from my own, sole taste test was that the fruit was too cold. Apparently, it's quite tasty (it would have to be, to compensate for the smell). Anyone interested in tasting but not trying to open the fruit can buy durian ice cream from Phil's Forbidden Flavours on 17th Ave in Calgary, as well as from T&T Chinese Superstore (Phil supplies them).

Durian, incidentally, is a significant part of Larissa Lai's novel Salt Fish Girl (she's the one who compares the smell to cat pee). The novel also makes great use of the pungent smell of salt fish, which, frankly, I love (the fish, not the smell).

And yes, I am well aware of the irony of a blogger who can't smell writing a scent-centric (scentric?) post.