We'd heard mention of durian fruit in our pre-trip research, so we knew exactly what it was when we saw hawker stalls at the side of the road and in the markets with these strange, spiky fruits on display.
Just in case you're not in the know, durian is often called the "world's smelliest fruit," with its odor variably compared to sewage, rotten onions, or dirty gym socks with a side of garlic. While I'm not sure how I would describe the smell, I do know that it's distinctive. It's also apparently repulsive to enough people that's it's actually banned in many public spaces.
We've seen signs at entrances to hotels, shops and malls forbidding durian to be brought inside. It appears that it's also banned on most if not all public transit systems. The airport train, the metro in KL, and the passenger ferry across to Penang Island all displayed signage similar to this one we recently saw on a bus.
In fact just today, while touring the Penang Hill tourist attraction, we noticed a sign reminding visitors that no durians were allowed on the premises. In four languages no less.
It made me wonder if people were in the habit of carrying the world's smelliest fruit around with them. But apparently not everyone thinks it's disgusting, so maybe some people like to pack it for lunch?
It seems it's one of those foods that some love while others hate. I can only think of a couple of other things that have that reputation, namely cilantro, black licorice and that Aussie delicacy, Vegemite. However, durian stands out for its stink factor, even to those who love the taste.
Of course, we had to give it a try while we're here, so we could judge for ourselves. After all, when there are entire restaurants with menus dedicated to this strange and smelly fruit, we couldn't pass up the opportunity. Here's the larger-than-life-size durian out front of one of these places, meant I suppose to entice passersby to come in. We weren't so inclined.
Instead, we settled for purchasing a small segment from a street vendor, pre-packaged in plastic wrap and sold complete with a disposable plastic glove so we didn't have to worry about being banned from our hotel because we couldn't get the stink of durian off our hands.
So what was it like? We both found it fairly unremarkable. Creamy texture, fairly dry or at least not juicy, not bad, but not a fruit we would go out of our way to buy again.
And even though we didn't find the smell as offensive as some people, it was definitely smelly and tended to linger in the air. Case in point: we had put the durian we purchased in the fridge to eat later, and when we opened the fridge the next morning there was no doubt it was in there!
But now we can say we've tried it, and can move on to our next adventure...
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